The Twilight Will
by Demonabyss
Summary: AU - What if Roxas decided not to merge with Sora? What if he went on his own adventure, visiting worlds much darker than what Sora visited? What would happen and what would he become? Spoilers for KH, CoM, 357/2, and more. 3rd world - Okami
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 01: Day 364: Rogue XIII

Roxas stared at the pod in front of him, the pod that contained his other, his Somebody, Sora. After being taunted by DiZ and that guy in the coat, here was the source of everything so far, his reason for the Organization wanting him, manipulating him, and ultimately betraying him. Here was the reason everyone seemed to be after him, all because he was Sora's Nobody, all because he could use the Keyblade.

It all came rushing back to him; his first few days in the Organization, when he was little better than a mindless zombie, his time on missions with the various members, especially Axel and … her. Xion. He remembered it all as the memories flooded his mind, as if the chains holding them had been broken, allowing them to return. Roxas dropped to one knee, holding his head in pain as images from the past flooded his mind. The fights with the heartless, following Pete to that cave, being tricked into facing each other, eating ice cream on the clock tower, following that imposter Riku, and how it all came to an end. How he had been forced to kill Number XIV, Xion, who had been like a sister to him. All because both sides were obsessed with Sora and he and Xion were seen as nothing more than missing pieces of the Keyblade master.

Why? Why did everyone only care about Sora? Wasn't he important too? Wasn't Xion important? Why was DiZ doing this? For revenge? To have the perfect weapon against Organization XIII? This wasn't fair; he had his own life, his own existence!

But what was that life, that existence? The Twilight Town he knew was false, his friends were nothing but bits of data taken from real people who had never met him and all his memories were broken because of Namine.

At that thought his rage increased. Namine was the one of the three responsible for all of this madness. She was the one who took his memories, messed with his mind and gave him this false hope of a normal life. She was a bigger traitor then the Organization. While they simply wanted more than one Keyblade user or at least one where they had full control of, Namine had betrayed those who took her in, betrayed her own kind for some guy who apparently treated her like garbage. Then she double crosses DiZ to try and help him. Hell, if she had just done her job in the first place none of this may have happened!

Then there was that imposter Riku. That jerk was the one who had dragged him into this false world and acted as guard while DiZ was the warden. Roxas wanted little more than to rip that bastard's head off for what he did to both him and Xion. He manipulated her, made her think that suicide was the right thing to do, her only true purpose. Riku was no better than the Organization in Roxas' eyes. He saw her as nothing more than a puppet, a tool to be used for his own ends. Riku saw HIM as nothing more than a tool. Why should he listen to him … or DiZ for that matter? He didn't owe them or Sora anything.

Roxas, Number XIII, the Key of Destiny of Organization XIII expressed his decision with a phase he remembered Larxene using during the short time he knew her that seemed appropriate for this situation. "To hell with this," he said out loud before getting to his feet and turning away from the pod containing his Sombody. Screw DiZ, screw Riku, screw Namine, and screw the Organization. He had had enough of being everyone's puppet and he was not going to be some sacrificial lamb for people he held no allegiance to. He raised his hand to create a Corridor of Darkness when DiZ appeared behind him.

"What do you think you are doing?" the bandaged man asked in his holier-than-thou voice.

"Leaving," the greater Nobody replied, not bothering to turn around, suspecting another hologram. The Corridor of Darkness started to form, blackness rising from the ground to create a portal. However, the darkness didn't completely form, as if something was trying to force it back. "What the…" Roxas muttered in surprise.

DiZ just smirked before speaking in that superior tone of his that made Roxas want to hit him with his Keyblade. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. You will join with Sora. As a Nobody, you are not supposed to exist and thus this is the best for everyone," he said simply, as if it were fact.

Roxas growled, glaring at the disintegrating portal. He concentrated and started to push more power into it, more darkness. The portal grew a little bit more, but still wouldn't form.

"It's useless," DiZ spoke from behind him. "The barrier I've erected will prevent any Corridor of Darkness from forming." Roxas just ignored the arrogant scientist as he continued to concentrate on the portal. He then got a weird idea. All Nobodies commanded the darkness to a limited extent; that was how they made portals. But they were more than that. They were made of Nothingness and greater Nobodies like him commanded a third element that was their primary weapon, in his case Light. He had all three of the most primal elements in existence at his command. Roxas then did something no one had done before; he focused all three, Darkness, Nothingness, and Light, into the portal.

"What are you doing?" DiZ said in surprise and in slight panic as the mass of Darkness started to form a portal when it shouldn't have been able to. However, unlike other portals that were completely black, this one had streams of shining white and twisting bolts of gray moving all around it. This was not a Corridor of Darkness; this was a Corridor of Chaos.

The red-coated scientist's visible eye widened as the portal formed. Though it wasn't stable, he saw the Nobody lower his hand. "No! Stop!" he cried out, but it was too late to do anything. Roxas had jumped into the Corridor of Chaos, destination: unknown.

Roxas was tossed and thrown all over in the Corridor of Chaos. Unlike the portals he was used to where you just walked through like going from one room to another, this was like falling from a cliff in the middle of a hurricane. He kept being pulled in so many directions it was all he could do to keep from blowing chunks. Bolts of Darkness, Nothingness, and Light swirled around him as he fell. 'I must be insane for jumping into a portal like this. I didn't even set a destination, I could end up anywhere. Oh well, couldn't be any worse than DiZ, Riku, or the Organization,' he thought as he fell. As soon as he thought of the Organization, something odd happened. Beams of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness shot towards him and formed around him. 'What's happening!' he thought wildly as they formed around him into … his coat?

Roxas stared as the strands of Chaos formed around him into his coat, the same one he wore during his time with the Organization. 'No, not the same,' he thought as he noticed some differences. On his left shoulder, embroidered was the sliver outline of a shield with XIII also in silver in it. His back had the silver symbol that represented Nobodies and by extension Nothingness. Once the coat had fully formed, the ride abruptly ended with Roxas landing on his back staring upwards, stunned at what just happened.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

DiZ scowled at the screen. 'How was that possible? The Nobody shouldn't have been able to generate a portal and yet it did.' He pondered on the events as Riku, cloaked in a black coat similar to that worn by those of the Organization, appeared behind him.

"It seems he escaped. What do we do now?" the darkness covered boy asked simply.

"We must find him. Without him Sora will only be at half power," he stated grimly. He then turned to a young, white-haired girl in a simple white dress standing to the side. "Namine, can you track him down through the link with Sora?" he asked staring intently at the girl. That was how they had found the boy the first time and eventually cornered both him and that girl Xion. It had been difficult because the two kept moving to and from The World that Never Was. It was only because of their habit of going to the clock tower in Twilight Town that they were able to find and manipulate them.

DiZ frowned as the solemn girl shook her head. "I can't. Whatever he did has disturbed his connection to Sora. He could be literally anywhere," she said softly. DiZ scowled while Riku frowned, turned towards the pod that held his best friend and would continue to hold him until they found Roxas.

On the computer screen monitoring Sora's recovery, it displayed something that made the dark wielder dislike the greater Nobody even more. [Restoration: Interrupted. Data corrupted. Beginning reboot and recovery of fragmented data. Time until completion: unknown.]

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

At the edge of world of Light, were Darkness and Nothingness met, there was a massive white castle surrounded by a black city and infinite night; the World that Never Was. The castle was the home base of Organization XIII, a group of greater Nobodies with the goal of creating Kingdom Hearts in order to obtain hearts of their own. However, in order to do that they needed the Keyblade to collect the hearts necessary to create Kingdom Hearts. To get the Keyblade they needed at least one of two people, the Keyblade Master Sora or Number XIII, the Key of Destiny Roxas.

Axel, Number VII the Flurry of Dancing Flames, walked in to the common room they shared. He had just returned from his encounter with Roxas in the basement of that mansion. It was hard for him to believe that Roxas had forgotten everything. Though it did seem he remembered at the end. Now he was lost again, this time it was likely to be permanent. 'Then again, no Nobody has ever merged back with their Somebody before. He may not be completely gone,' the redhead thought to himself. 'I wonder what Superior is going to say.'

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The greater Nobody slowly got up, clutching his head with one hand as he did so. That had been one hell of a ride. He steadied himself before looking around at where he was. Looking around he saw he was in some sort of gym. It was old and decayed, as if it hadn't been used or repaired in years. It was mostly empty, with what looked like retractable stands on the side. It was then he noticed a massive hole in the center of the place. Pulling his hood up he walked over and looked down.

'What the,' he thought in surprise as all he saw was an endless blackness, similar to the realm of darkness. He would've thought he was in the realm of darkness except he was sure there weren't massive stacks of books reaching up through it like swaying skyscrapers. 'Where am I?' Before he could think further on this, he heard something coming towards the gym. Thinking quickly, he hid in one of the two cubbies attached to the stage that was also in the gym.

Hiding in the shadows, he listened as someone entered the gym. He was able to see who it was as they went onto the stage and pulled a switch. Roxas' eyes widened when he saw who it was. 'Xion?' he thought for a moment before shaking his head and realizing it wasn't her. It was a girl, but while Xion had been around fifteen, this one was closer to eighteen. Like Xion she had dark hair and a similar face, but that's where the similarities ended. This girl wore a blue dress with a white, blood-stained front. In her hand was large silver knife, not-unlike a butcher's knife Roxas noted.

The cloaked traveler watched as she pulled a switch, causing the stairs to unfold. Staying in the shadows, he watched as the girl made her way up into the rafters of the gym. Apparently she was speaking with someone but he couldn't hear what they were talking about. However the conversation stopped when these … things appeared.

At first, Roxas thought they were Heartless, but no. These things didn't have the right look, weren't black skinned, or had glowing yellow eyes. They were flying around, looking like tattered, demonic cloaks with red skulls and burning eyes. Whatever these things were, they weren't Heartless. He watched as the girl brandished her knife and … cards? Yes they were playing cards like what Luxord used, but she used them like throwing stars at the creatures. Watching the fight, Roxas could see the girl was skilled and ruthless. 'Reminds me of Larxene,' he thought to himself, trying to decide what to do.

On the one hand, this had nothing to do with him and the Organization had always advised him to keep out of sight of the "locals" whenever he was on a different world. On the other hand though, those methods wouldn't really work in regards to his survival. He needed allies and he needed help, especially in a place like this. 'Besides, at this point what do I have to lose?' he thought as he pulled up his hood and summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

Alice Liddell, eighteen-year-old resident of Rutledge Asylum and traveler of Wonderland, had seen many things during her first couple of trips here and since her return. Seeing Rabbit and Cheshire in such twisted states had bothered her only initially, but not that much due to her time in the asylum. Though she hadn't shown it, seeing Wonderland become this nightmarish realm had shaken her even with her time at Rutledge. To find that this crazy, wonderful world twisted in such a way was broke something inside her. This world's innocence had been as thoroughly destroyed as hers had been. There was also her suspicion that her own madness had something to do with all this, but until she confirmed it, the idea would remain just that. These thoughts had whirled in her head ever since she stepped into Wonderland and continued even as she battled these Boojums.

So it was easy to understand her surprise when one of the skull-faced creatures was hit by what appeared to be a blast of ice. This startled both the girl and the remaining creatures as the one that was struck froze and fell into the endless abyss through the hole in the floor. They turned to see someone standing on the stage in a strange black cloak with a hood obscuring their face. The coat was completely black with some silver and what looked like a shield with a symbol on the left shoulder. They were shorter than Alice by a few inches and stood in a battle ready stance. The main characteristic about this person was the two odd swords he was holding. Both were oddly shaped, almost like large keys. One was long and black, with what looked like bat-wings on for the hilt. The other was shorter and colored a crystalline white, with what looked like a heart and a star at the end of it.

The moment of stillness was broken when the black cloaked stranger attacked the Boojums viciously. 'Curiouser and curiouser,' Alice thought as she joined the fray. The two moved swiftly and silently, taking down the Boojums with ease. While their screams were powerful, they were easily dodged by the two blade wielders. The emerald-eyed girl watched carefully as she fought. Whoever was helping her was extremely skilled and was able to wield magic. His/her movements were fluid and powerful; this person was no stranger to combat against multiple foes.

Once the last Boojum combusted into flame, the two fighters stood looking at each other. Alice watched guardedly as the black cloaked person's weapons disappeared in flashes of light. "Well, I thank you for your assistance, but who are you?" she asked carefully. In a world like Wonderland, very little was what it seemed. She had seen what had happened to Rabbit and Cheshire at this world's transformation and could only guess at the transformations of others she had met before. However, the one in front of her looked nothing like any of residents she had met in Wonderland in her earlier trips.

Roxas, deciding to take a chance, pulled down his hood. "I'm Roxas. I saw you in trouble and thought you could use some help," he explained simply.

Alice raised an eyebrow at the blue-eyed boy. "My name is Alice and how is it you came to be here Roxas?" she asked calmly while still keeping a grip on her Vaporal Blade.

The Nobody thought for a moment before answering. "Long story short, I was in an Organization that manipulated me and my … sister. She was then tricked by the Organization's enemy into committing suicide and I was captured. I only recently escaped both of them and ended up here, wherever here is."

Alice's eyes narrowed, searching for any falsehood. Obviously he was leaving things out, omitting pieces of the truth, but all he said was truth. There were no lies in his words. There was also the fact that unlike everything else she had seen in Wonderland, this boy didn't have the look of enslavement she had seen in the dwarves before or the being infected with the madness as everything else was. "I see. Well, as to where you are, you're in Wonderland, or what's left of it anyway."

Roxas' eyes widened. 'Wonderland? This can't be Wonderland,' was his immediate thought before he remembered how he got here in the first place. 'That portal must have bent more than just space. Did it take me to another world or someplace else?' he thought to himself.

Alice noticed his reaction. "You seem surprised."

"It's just I've been to Wonderland before, just a short time ago and it was nothing like this. What happened?" he asked the girl.

Alice sighed. "As you said, long story short, I too have been to Wonderland before when I was younger. Shortly after I was caught in a fire and watched as my family and home burned to the ground. It scared my body and mind severely and I was put into an asylum. I returned to find Wonderland in this twisted state. Now I seek to undo what has been done."

Roxas read between the lines. She suspected this was her fault in some way. The boy nodded, knowing what it was like to want to undo something that may have been your fault, even unintentionally. His mind turned to Kingdom Hearts and all the hearts he had captured for the Organization, all so that they could have hearts of their own, or so Xenmas had said. Somehow, Roxas doubted it. His thoughts then turned to Xion, his memory of her crystallizing and fading away while he made the promise to undo Kingdom Hearts. Shaking his head, he looked at Alice. "Want some help?"

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Like I said, I just escaped and now I'm on the run. Judging from what happened, I'd say this place is not very friendly right now. Besides, I know what it's like to want to undo mistakes that you didn't know you made," he said solemnly.

Alice nodded and motioned for him to follow. "Come along then. We have much to do and an unknown amount of time to do it," she said as she made for the door. The blonde nodded and followed, unsure of where this would all guide him.

**Journal Entry: Day 364**

**Dark Wonderland**

Emerging from the Corridor of Chaos, I'm starting to wonder if I left the frying pan for the fire. I landed in Wonderland, at least that's what I'm told. I have my doubts. I don't think any place could change this much in a few short weeks. The Corridor of Chaos took me away from my warden and his guard, but I have no idea where I am in relation to where I was. I don't know if this is the same Wonderland I've been to before. I suspect I may have traveled through time or possibly dimensions, I don't know.

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year ago exactly that I came into existence, knowing nothing about myself or the universe around me. Now I know far more then I originally cared to, most of it learned within the past couple of months. I have no idea what I plan to do now. All I know is that I'm not quite ready to face both the Organization and Sora's supporters. I guess my only choice is to travel. Who knows, I may find something that can help me or at least bring Xion back.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 02: Day 364: Twisted Path

Roxas and Alice made their way through the twisted Skool. The Keyblade wielder was now more certain that this was not the same Wonderland he had been to before. After leaving the gym, the two had made their way to the laboratory where they met a dwarf; at least Roxas thought it was a dwarf. Like everything else he had seen so far, the dwarf had a ragged look, as if he had seen far too much in his time. All things considered, that was probably true.

On the way they had met up with some card guards and more Boojums as he learned they were called. Apparently they were the souls of those who had tried to take down the Red Queen and failed. Now they only sought to inflict equal pain on others that they themselves felt for their failures. The dwarf was surprised at his presence there but accepted it nonetheless. "We need all the help we can get," he had commented as he mixed up a potion.

Turning towards his female companion, Roxas asked her about what was going on. "So what's this potion supposed to do?"

"Hopefully shrink us so we can follow the White Rabbit," she replied. Roxas shook his head, a feeling of déjà vu coming over him. He remembered his first trip to Wonderland and the later trips with Luxord. They too had followed a white rabbit and drank a potion to shrink themselves in order to travel in Wonderland. However, the former Organization member doubted this would be anything like those particular trips.

After the potion was ready, the two headed to the Observatory. Roxas just followed silently as Alice led the way. Slashing their way through the card guards, Roxas felt little at seeing their blood spill like a fountain. Whether it was his lack of a heart or simply his lack of experience, he felt nothing as his Keyblades were drenched in thick, red blood. He felt no pity or remorse at their deaths as they were nothing more than mindless soldiers. From his few memories and impressions of Sora that he had received due to Namine, he got the feeling that Sora would've lost his lunch all over his Keyblades by now.

'His Keyblades,' the thought pierced Roxas' mind with an odd realization as the two entered the Observatory. He looked down at Oathkeeper and Oblivion in his hands. 'These aren't mine.' It was a weird but significant revelation. They weren't his and he just realized it; these belonged to Sora, created from his memories of Kairi and Riku respectively. 'If I wish to separate myself from him, then I probably shouldn't be using his weapons.' With this thought, he concentrated on them, willing them to change into Keyblades that represented him, not Sora, not Kairi, and certainly not that bastard Riku.

In a flash of light, both Keyblades changed into two completely different forms, catching Alice's attention and causing her to raise a curious eyebrow. Oblivion had been replaced by an equally long blade. This one had a black circle around the handle with four spikes around the guard. The key chain was Roxas' own charm with the Nobody symbol adorned on the hilt. The shaft looked like an actual blade that curved around at the end with four spikes to make the teeth of the "key". Oblivion, representing Sora's memories of Riku, had been replaced by Two Become One, representing Roxas' and Xion's Nobody origins. Oathkeeper had been replaced by a slightly longer and thinner Keyblade. It had a purple guard shaped like curved blades. The shaft was a dull silver color with the teeth made up of two large blade-like hooks. Like the other one, this one was much more of a sword then what it replaced. Oathkeeper, the Keyblade representing Sora's memories of Kairi, was replaced with Rejection of Fate, symbolizing Roxas' refusal to simply fade away into darkness or into Sora and Xion's refusal to truly hurt him, even when she believed that destroying them both was the right thing to do.

Alice eyed the two new weapons with interest, wondering what the story was behind them, much like the story behind her own Vaporal Blade. 'I'll have to ask about them later when we have time to.' Pulling out the potion, she turned to her companion. "Let's go, we have to catch up with the rabbit." The blonde nodded and two took a gulp and disappeared into the portal, following the trail of the White Rabbit.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Namine gasped as she felt something happen through her connection to Sora. 'Roxas!' she thought in alarm as the connection between the Keyblade master and his Nobody … twisted. 'What's happening?' she thought in panic as the connection between Sora and Roxas surged and changed so that it was no longer as stable as it once was. Roxas had done something; she could sense it, something that was distancing who and what he was from Sora. Before, the two were more or less mirror image of each other. Now Roxas' image was starting to blur, becoming something different … and from the feel of it, something darker. Kairi's Nobody tried to focus, to understand what exactly was happening due to this change and her eyes widened in shock.

Certain memories in Sora were now starting to go into Roxas against Namine's control. She could see some of the memories as they flowed into him but they were extremely blurry, as if their connection to Sora was minimal at best. Despite this, she was able to make some out some of the images. Many were of a massive white castle with the Nobody symbol adoring many of the walls. It stood in the blackest city in existence, containing no people but still not uninhabited. Rain poured down constantly, darkening everything even more. It was a place she had seen and been to before, the white castle in the World that Never Was, headquarters for Organization XIII. Many of the images contained two figures, a tall one with a spiky, red head of hair and the other about her size with blonde hair, both wearing black cloaks. There were also many memories of sitting at the top of the clock tower in Twilight Town, eating sea-salt ice cream as the sun set over the horizon. As she watched them disappear down the link into Roxas, Namine tried to understand what these memories were and what was going on.

'Roxas and Axel?' she thought confused as she looked at the memories. Having met them both she could recognize them, but that didn't explain where these memories came from. 'But Sora has never met Roxas and he's never been to the Castle that Never Was. So … where are the memories coming from and why are they going to Roxas?' she thought in panic. Was someone else messing with his memories or was something else going on?

It then hit her like a ton of bricks. While Sora had never actually been to the clock tower or to the World that Never Was, Xion, Number XIV of the Organization, had. She had been with both Roxas and Axel and had lived at that castle. These were Xion's memories, completely separate from Sora's and they were leaving Sora for Roxas. 'But the question is, why?' the white-haired girl worried to herself.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The two landed in a massive garden. Like everything else in Wonderland, it had become twisted and dark. They stood in front of a waterfall, the area covered in a disturbing mist. It vaguely reminded Roxas of Halloween Town, but the feeling was completely different. Halloween Town had the feeling at some feeling of friendliness to it. This place drained away hope and left nothing but sorrow. "Cheery place," he commented dryly as the two started up the cliff.

"It was … once," Alice responded regretfully. Roxas looked at her in question but said nothing as they continued to follow the trail of the White Rabbit. To their dismay the path the Rabbit took was blocked by a boulder dropped by what looked like ants in military uniform. The glimpse Roxas caught of the beast confirmed that this was not the same Wonderland he had been to before. The white rabbit he had seen before had been small and cute. This one looked about two-thirds his size and had the look of a stressed carnivore rather than a timid herbivore. Wordlessly, the two made their way up the cliff, avoiding more boulders dropped by the ants. "Annoying pests," Alice muttered as they reached the top. Roxas silently agreed as they slashed the bothersome insects.

As they followed the river, if it could be called that given their size, they came to a large lake. On one side was a statue of Alice crying gallons of tears that flooded into the lake and river, also creating the depressing mist that seemed to cover the entire area. This just reinforced Roxas' earlier suspicion that Alice herself was connected to this in some way. Whatever the connection, it was something the Keyblade wielder could not even begin to guess. Putting his curiosity off for later, he followed his companion as they both heard the sound of someone crying. The source however surprised the greater Nobody. It was a man, sort of. He was twice the height of Alice, wore only a cloth diaper, and had reptilian feet and forearms similar to flippers. His head was that of a bull and was weeping loudly. 'This place just gets weirder and weirder,' he thought as they approached.

"What's all this then? Did someone die? Have you lost your family?" Alice asked concerned for the Mock Turtle.

Through his weeping, the creature replied. "No my shell! The Duchess stole it and tried to me for lunch! Nobility must be served, I suppose…" he cried in dismay.

Alice snorted, "Stop that wailing won't you?"

The Mock Turtle sniffed as he quieted, "You're very cold blooded for a mammal. I was almost soup!"

Roxas jumped in. "Look, that's a sad story and all but we're in a hurry. Have you seen the White Rabbit?"

The minotaur-like creature thought for a moment before speaking. "Mmm … Twitchy nose, shifty eyes, constantly consults his pocket watch? Most peculiar beast."

'You're one to talk,' Roxas thought before speaking. "He's important and we really need to find him."

"Caterpillar could help, I'm quite certain. He knows everything there is to know."

Alice raised an eyebrow, "And where does that smushy lay-about hang his hookah these days?"

"Since the troubles began, he's in hiding. I couldn't divulge the secret. I couldn't risk telling you two, without … something in return," he said suggestively.

The black-coated boy sighed, getting the idea easily. "We get it, your shell for his location then?"

The bull head nodded. "Agreed. I warn you, the Duchess won't part with it willingly and she treats everything as prey."

The emerald-eyed girl just gave a dark smirk. "I think she'll find us a bit hard to swallow." Roxas nodded and pulled up his hood. The Mock Turtle nodded and began to lead them along the river towards the Duchess's lair. It wasn't easy as it seemed everything was trying to kill them, from large ants, to bomb toting beetles, to carnivorous roses and mushrooms. Along the way, Roxas decided that from now on he was going to shoot his dinner salad before he ate it. Finally, they reached the home of the Duchess. AS they approached, someone appeared from the side. It reminded Roxas somewhat of the Lurk Lizard Heartless he had faced before, only a lot smaller and more human looking. Alice had a puzzled look as she gazed at him. "Don't I know you?"

"Bill McGill is the name. Call me Larry … or not. Have any brandy?" the lizard man asked as he approached the two.

"Sorry, we don't. We're here to see the Duchess about the Turtle's shell. We must get it back," Alice explained.

Bill raised an eyebrow, so to speak. "Will you? Destroyed me home, builds this monstrosity. She's mad as monkey mash and just as tasteless. You devoted servant, ma'am and sir. I owe her a bad turn myself. Follow me," he motioned, leading the two to the front doors. However, as the two drew close, the doors opened suddenly and a violent wind sucked both Roxas and Alice in. Bill went off screaming.

The two landed in a heap inside the house. "Sneaky lizard," Roxas muttered. He turned to his companion. "You okay?" he asked as he helped Alice to her feet.

"I'll be fine. We need to keep moving." Roxas nodded and followed her down the hall to the main room. It was quite large, most it looking like a twisted sort of kitchen with a fireplace at the far end. There were meat hooks hanging from the wall and dried blood all over the floor as well as the large table in the center. There were also mutilated corpses here and there, though what they once were neither could tell. The rancid smell the permeated the place didn't help either of them keep from vomiting, though Alice seemed to weather it better than Roxas.

As soon as they entered, the fire flared and out came the Duchess. Taller than Alice with a massive head and face that reminded Roxas vaguely of the Bully Dog Heartless he had hunted on occasion, she had an expression of a twisted predator on her leathery face. She was dressed in a dirty and tattered gown covered in blood and food stains, holding a large pepper shaker. All and all she was hard just to look at.

"Well well well, what do we have here? Two lovely little morsels right on my doorstep? Properly seasoned you two would make a lovely dish," the ogre-like woman cackled.

"We're not edible," Alice said flatly as she readied both her Vaporal Blade and Jack Bombs.

The Duchess just grinned, which made her even more repulsive than before. "Not a complete meal certainly, but a good appetizer I think."

Alice just snorted, not at all intimidated by this deranged woman. "We're here for the Turtle's shell, hand it over now," she ordered.

Now the ogre frowned. "Over my dead body!"

Roxas just shrugged and summoned Two Become One and Rejection of Fate in twin flashes of light. "Works for me," he said simply before rushing in to attack. He slashed with both his Keyblades only for the Duchess to dodge, spraying pepper at him as she did. Roxas himself jumped back, watching the pepper hit the ground and immediately start to sizzle and smoke. 'Toxic pepper, great,' he thought wearily as she then went after Alice. As the Duchess approached, Alice countered by throwing what looked like a jack-in-the-box … that immediately started to spew fire. The ogre in drag recoiled from the flame. Alice took her chance and brandished her blade and attacked. She got in several slashes before the Duchess suddenly disappeared in a burst of pepper, blinding Alice as she did so. "Alice!"

She had no time to react as the Duchess appeared behind her. "Mine!" she roared as she opened her mouth and took Alice's upper body into her gullet. In panic, the girl kicked and screamed as the Duchess attempted to eat her alive. Reacting quickly, Roxas dashed right at the monstrous noble. Jumping up, he slashed both her eyes at the same time, causing her to scream in pain and release Alice. She staggered backwards towards the wall, flailing in blind rage as she did so. Taking quick aim, Roxas flung his two Keyblades and pierced her forearms, pinning her to the wall.

Alice quickly got up in disgust and anger, the saliva not hiding the piercing hate in her eyes for the white-clad cannibal. Roxas watched in slight surprise as Alice's normally intense emerald eyes shifted to a burning red as her face became a mask of rage. He would almost swear that he saw small horns grow out of her head as she snarled. "As I said before, we are not edible," she declared before flinging the Vaporal Blade at incredible speed at the pinned Duchess. It hit its mark right-square between her slashed, bleeding eyes. She let out an inhuman scream, thrashing wildly for a few moments before stilling. Alice summoned back her Vaporal Blade as Roxas did the same for his Keyblades, both taking a minute to wipe the blood from them as the body slumped to the ground. "Let's find the Turtle's shell and be gone from this place," she said hotly, still ticked about nearly being eaten alive. Roxas said nothing, not wanting to be a target for her rage.

As the two turned to collect the shell that was hanging above the fireplace, they heard a growl from behind them. Turning quickly with their weapons ready, they saw the body of the Duchess rise again. She roared as she staggered forward before starting to sneeze violently, toxic pepper flying out of her mouth each time. They watched in anticipation as her sneezes quickly grew in intensity before hitting their peak, at which point her entire head blew up, becoming a fountain of blood and pepper. The two looked on silently before turning towards the Turtle's shell, leaving the corpse for the leeches to clean up.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The Mock Turtle had been grateful for the return of his shell and immediately brought them to the path leading to Caterpillar. He quickly left, afraid of the soldiers in the area. Neither truly blamed him given the state of woods. Following the path, the two made their way through Wonderland Woods, tearing through any resistance that got in their way, until they finally caught up with the White Rabbit. An up-close inspection only confirmed Roxas' earlier impression of this not being the same rabbit he had first seen. Dressed in a blood red coat and black top hat, this rabbit looked like he was permanently stressed and had never relaxed in his life. The fact that he was checking his pocket watch as he spoke only reinforced that belief. "You took your sweet time in getting here," he scoffed.

Alice scowled indignantly. "What do you mean? You're the one who didn't wait! We had reason…"

"Forget reasons," the Rabbit interrupted, "they're useless. Caterpillar is waiting."

Alice crossed her arms as memories surfaced in her mind. "I remember him well, thin-skinned, ill-tempered, smokes too much, disagreeable smell. Why do we need him?" she asked hoping for an alternative.

"No one is wiser in Wonderland. Only he knows what you must do to save us. Now, follow closely, the way is treacherous. We have so far to go and so little time to get there," he stated before turning and dashing off. Roxas sighed before following along with Alice. They made their way further into the woods, slashing and killing anything in their way quickly in order to keep up with the hyperactive hare. To their surprise, he stopped in front of a clearing, looking more nervous than before, which Roxas hadn't thought was possible. "Strange how quiet it is here, now, I don't like it," he muttered to which the two agreed. A forest is never quiet, if it was it only meant that everything was too scared to make a sound. "Caterpillar is just beyond the clearing. Let's sacrifice stealth for speed," he suggested before running off even quicker than before.

However as soon as he did the ground shook with a loud sound like muted thunder. Then another followed the first. It was then Roxas and Alice realized the sounds were footsteps, large footsteps. They both ran forward in panic only to see a massive black shoe stomp down on the White Rabbit. Alice nearly screamed and rushed forward to her friend if Roxas hadn't covered her mouth and held her back. "Be quiet," he hissed as he held the struggling young woman. "There's nothing we can do and if we're seen we'll be killed as well," he said fiercely. His words broke through to her and she stopped struggling. The two watched silently as the large shoes walked away. Once the footsteps were far enough away, Alice fell to her knees and started to cry at the sight of her friend's crushed corpse. Though Roxas didn't know Rabbit as personally as Alice, even he had a hard time looking at what remained. Being crushed by a foot 200 times your sized was not pretty.

"Everyone I love dies violently … unnaturally. I'm cursed. Why go on? I'll just hurt others," she choked out through her sobs as Roxas held her, not sure what to do.

Sighing, Roxas knew they had to keep going if they were to survive. "Look Alice, I know he was your friend but we can't wait here. If we do then his sacrifice will be in vain. Rabbit led us this far and now we have to go the rest of the way. I promise we'll kill the bastard who did this later, but for now we need to find Caterpillar," he said as calmly as possible though inside his emotions, or what acted like them, were jumbled. Alice reluctantly nodded, tears still dripping from her eyes as the two continued on, determined to make sure Rabbit's demise was not in vain.

**Journal Entry: Day 364**

**Alice**

The only person here in this Dark Wonderland that seems to be sane, though that sanity seems questionable. From what I've seen, there is some connection between this world and her. The statue at the Vale of Tears points heavily towards it. What I do know is that Alice was in a fire and sent to asylum for years. That fire did something to her, broke her in some way. I think that also broke Wonderland.

Heh, Vexen and Luxord would probably be proud at my observations if they were here. Wish I knew what happened to them. Vexen died at Castle Oblivion and I have no clue as to how Luxord is doing, or any of the others for that matter. Saix and Xenmas I don't care about. Xaldin was okay, if really uptight. Demyx, Xigbar and Luxord though, I hope their okay.

AN: This is an idea I've had for awhile. Some other places he may visit are Bladehenge, Vigrid, Dionysus Park, Haven City, the Pillars of Nosgoth, the Island of Creation, and the Bottle Ship, all taken from games with a certain level of bad-ass. I also plan to have a journal entry at the end of each chapter, similar to the Dark Tome I did in Atum-Coma: The City Hidden in the Nexus.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 03: Day 365: Black and White and Gray all over

The emerald-eyed young woman and the black-cloaked greater Nobody made their way through the Wonderland Woods. Both were silent as the slaughtered the soldier ants and carnivorous flowers in their path to Caterpillar. Alice's face shifted constantly between being stoic to unrelenting rage to a sadistic glee as she spilt the blood of the ants and other creatures standing in her way. It seemed as if her sorrow was being channeled into pure rage and energy. Roxas followed silently keeping a weary-eye on his companion. While he may not have had much experience with other people, he was pretty sure that emotional shifts that Alice was doing were not normal but anyone's standards.

Soon the two of them made it in front of Caterpillar. He was a strange being to Roxas with a distorted human face, multiple human-like arms with hands, and a long serpentine body colored a blue-green with disturbing yellow eyes. He had two large horn-like extensions on his head with a red fez between them and a large hookah next him that he casually smoked from. He watched them approach calmly before speaking. "Ah Alice, Roxas … you've arrived," he said calmly.

Roxas was immediately wary of this creature. He could understand him knowing Alice as she knew of him before coming here, but Roxas had never met him before in any way. For him to already know put him on edge. Alice spoke first. "Rabbit never told us why … and now he's dead," she spoke, her voice laced with sorrow.

"Why? Wonderland is severely damaged. You two must set things right, that's why," he said matter-of-factly.

Alice shook her head, as if not wanting to believe any of what the Caterpillar said. "I barely recognize this terrible place. What is it to me?" she asked wondering how this all happened and its connection to her.

The large insect took another puff from his hookah before speaking. "It's home … well, it could be. Having lost what you loved, you nearly wiped us out. You've started to rebuild. Your task however, and your pain are not yet over," he said simply.

Alice looked down in despair. "Why must I suffer?" she asked sadly. Roxas had quietly wondered that question; himself for some time even before coming to this place.

"Because you mind is fouled by self-deception. Even you fantasies have fragmented into tortured versions of themselves. You are wracked with guilt because you survived, and dread the prospect of a life alone," he explained calmly though with a touch of sympathy. He then turned to greater Nobody who had been silent throughout this whole thing. "Roxas, you also have a part to play in all this. You are an unknown factor in this world. As a result of you coming here, Wonderland is starting to be affected by your presence as well. Your memories of Xion, the Organization, what you have suffered, and your fears of being nothing more than an extension of Sora are starting to leak into Wonderland and change it even further."

Roxas' eyes widened as Alice gave him a sidelong glance. While Roxas had told her about being part of an organization and his sister; she assumed was this Xion, she had no idea who this Sora person was or his connection to Roxas. There was also the matter of the comment "extension of Sora". What did Caterpillar mean by that? Sometimes she didn't know who was more ambiguous, Caterpillar or Cheshire. She shook her head and addressed the chain-smoking insect, "What must we do?"

He took another puff from his hookah before speaking. "Destroy the Queen of Hearts. Wonderland and your entire world can become whole again. I need to rest now. You two need to regain your human size. Grow up Alice, embrace the truth. Roxas, face your fears. Travel to the Fungiferous Forest, now, and nibble from the Mushroom of Life. Take great care, the voracious Centipede jealously guards it and rules over what you two require," he explained. The Caterpillar then took a deep drag on his hookah pipe before spewing out a massive cloud of purple and black smoke. In an instant the two of them were in another part of the forest with the Caterpillar nowhere in sight.

The two looked in confusion before Roxas broke the silence. "He may be creepy, but he knows how to make an exit," he commented with a weary smirk. Alice returned it and the two went on their way. There were a number of carnivorous mushrooms and roses in their way that were either cut down by Roxas' blades or frozen by Alice's Ice Wand. Though Roxas hadn't really noticed it before, it seemed that Alice had a number of strange weapons at her disposal while he mainly relied on his Keyblades and magic. As they made their way towards the Centipede's lair, more and more ants appeared until their numbers were staggering.

Alice's face twisted in rage. For every ant she cut down, two more took its place. The emerald-eyed girl could see her companion doing what he could to take out the hordes. Attacks of fire, ice, lightning, and wind erupted from his Keyblades; slaughtering groups of ants only to have more appear. She could tell he was getting tired as was she. However, she was shocked when both his Keyblades lit up and turned into large, twin blades of light. 'What in the world?' she thought as he went completely insane on the encroaching soldier ants. The blades cut through them with a sickening sizzling sound as he moved far faster than before. Looking like little more than a black shadow holding two beams of light dancing around it, Roxas became a phantom of death. What was even more surprising was when beams of light appeared. They were perfectly vertical and seemed to be emitted by small shields of light, similar to the symbol on his shoulder. The shields and beams of light seemed to appear out of nowhere, creating fences of burning beams of light. The ants panicked at the sight of these blazing beams, breaking formation and running, allowing the beams to claim more victims. Just as it seemed the ants were retreating, Roxas brought his blades together and shot a massive beam of light straight up into the air. Alice questioned what he was doing when equally massive beams rained down on the ants, wiping them out with no mercy. In a few short moments, all of the attacking insect hordes were decimated, leaving the two alone.

Roxas slumped to the ground after using his full power. He had never used both Event Horizon and Magic Hour at the same time, but he couldn't argue with the results. 'If I could master those abilities and not be in a life or death fight,' his thoughts trailed off as Alice came over and helped him up. "Give me a minute and I'll be fine," he said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a hi-potion and hi-ether. These would tide him over until they were able to properly rest. Alice nodded and kept watch as her partner revived himself. Once he was done, the two entered the lair of the Centipede.

This was by far the largest insect they had encountered. He was twice the size of Caterpillar, with a black jacket and pith helmet. His teeth gleamed as he snarled at them. "What have you done to my army! You wretched mammals will pay!" he roared as he attacked.

Both of them dove out of the way as the Centipede lobed balls of acid at them before moving in for the kill. Alice attacked from a distance using what initially looked like jacks. However, they were far more then children's toys, flying with deadly accuracy and swarming the insect with deadly spikes. Problem was the Centipede's thick exoskeleton limited their effectiveness. Roxas went in for a close attack. The blood-red colored insect attempted to ram him with his spiked helmet only for Roxas to jump over and landed on the creature's back. He dug his Keyblades into the Centipede's back, cracking his armor and causing him to cry out in pain. He twisted and bucked trying to get rid of his rider. Roxas held on before twisting his blades into the insect's back and then pulling hard, forcing the Centipede to rear up and expose his tender underbelly. Seeing her chance, Alice attacked with the Ice Wand, freezing the area of the body solid.

The Centipede cried out in pain as his lower body became completely numb as it died. He was finally able to throw Roxas off his back and into the air, where the Keyblade wielder hovered for a moment before coming down like a meteor. His blades flashed beams of light around them he sliced the massive insect's head clean off. The corpse spewed blood as it toppled over lifeless. The two made their way to the large mushroom in the middle of the lair.

On a nearby rock, the Cheshire Cat appeared. Roxas stared at the twisted feline for a moment. This all but confirmed his suspicion that this was not the Wonderland he had visited before. The first Cheshire he had seen had been colored in purples and looked fluffy, like a plush toy almost. This one was nearly twice that one's size, with grey fur covered in twisted black marks. It was built more like a demonic lynx or bobcat with the Cat's eyes and twisted grin glowing which sent a chill up Roxas' spine. His grin fully in place as he spoke, "I've never trusted toadstools, but I suppose some much have their good points."

Alice snorted. "I wish I were hallucinating. What a horrible choice, eat a toadstool or be food for ravenous insects." She looked at Roxas who just shrugged and took a bite himself, barely able to stomach it. The two grew and appeared in a rocky area, near what seemed to be a volcano. Molten rock poured down the side of the nearby cliff as the stench of sulfur permeated the air.

Once again the Cheshire Cat appeared his glowing grin and eyes breaking the darkness of the area. "The dimensions of this desolate tract are unknown to all but the inhabitants. Only one path will bring you to the endgame." The two then turned to the center of the area where there was a spiral pool of lava with a stone spire in the middle. Both noticed something sticking out of the top of it. Roxas jumped and glided over to the item, retrieving it and bringing it back to Alice to look at. It was part of some sort of wand or staff, made out of black wood with intricate runes and symbols. Cheshire interrupted their examination with an explanation. "The Jabberwock Eye Staff is incomparably powerful, but its individual pieces are worth less than the carcass of a gnat."

Roxas turned to the feline. "Where do we go from here? How do we get to the Red Queen?" he asked, not sure on the response he would get.

The Cat cocked his head to the side for a moment before speaking. "In war information is as vital as blood, to which the Oracle may be willing to share," he said calmly before disappearing again.

The black coated boy sighed before turning to Alice. This Cat actually gave him a straight answer which was refreshing considering everything he had been through. "Let's get going." After a moment, "You going to be all right?" he asked concerned, referring to what happened to the White Rabbit.

She nodded solemnly, "I'll be fine, let's press on." They did, following the trail. On the way they encounter new beasts, just as twisted as everything else in Wonderland. Out of a couple of the pools emerged golems of pure magma. They were taken care of easily enough by Alice's ice wand and Roxas' Blizzaga magic. However, they also encountered something far more deadly. At a distance it looked only like a shadow, but when they got close, they found it to be another type of spectral creature, similar to the Boojums. This one however, was at least twice their size with body made up of a black cloak, its skull a pure white, and a presence that seemed to chill everything around it. The thing's eyes, or the empty sockets that were its eyes, let loose a beam that froze the area it hit. "Phantasmagoria," Alice muttered darkly as she brandished her Jacks. The small, steel-spiked toys flew and swarmed the creature while Roxas' launched a Firaga at it. The creature screamed as it perished in a blaze of frost and fire.

The two continued on before coming to a strange cave. As soon as they approached, a low, ominous voice rang out from it. "To destroy the palace, filled with malice, is the daring work of Roxas and Alice. An endgame with the Red Queen is possible only after you crush her sentinel … the vile, fiercilicous, and vengeful Jabberwock. Without the staff that bears his name, destroying him is the hopeless work of a wasted life," it intoned ominously.

"We have one piece of the Eye Staff, where can we find the others?" Alice asked.

"Scattered throughout the world. When you them all in hand, checkmate is possible. The pale royals may be of use," it responded.

Alice snorted. "Obscure allusions to chess are fine, but it troubles me that anonymous oracles know more of my business than I do."

Roxas nodded as memories of when he was confronted by both DiZ and Axel in Twilight Town at the same time resurfacing. "In my experience people knowing more about you than you do is not a good thing. At best it is a confusing thing." Alice nodded in agreement as the two retraced their path and headed for the Pale Realm. Along the way they met up with large, living, red colored chess pieces, mostly just pawns from the looks of them, hopping around on flat circular bases with one large eye on a round head. The closer they came to the gateway, the more the land shifted. Large white and black tiles appeared and seemed to form a chessboard pattern all over the ground. When they passed through the gate, they entered a place that reminded Roxas heavily of the World that Never Was. Everything was colored in black, white, and shades of gray with the same chessboard pattern on the ground and in the sky. However, there was also something else. While some of the buildings took on castle and Victorian-like qualities which Alice knew quite well, others took on styles that were familiar to Roxas. There were dark colored skyscrapers and strange pale white, tube-like towers. The Keyblade wielder shook it off and continued on with Alice until the Cheshire Cat appeared.

The Cat's grin was ever present as it spoke to the two travelers. "Since you know the moves, best play with whites, they go first." Roxas absently wondered if that was a crack at Nobodies, considering they were usually colored white or at least shades of it.

Alice was the first to speak. "Such order in the midst of chaos makes me woozy and disoriented."

"The regularity of the board disguises the predatory nature of certain pieces," the Cat responded.

Roxas had to ask. "Why do some of the buildings here look so … different?" he said cautiously.

The Cat turned to him, his grin never fading, knowing what he was referring to. "As Caterpillar said, you are an unknown piece in this game and thus are adding new rules simply by being on the board." Roxas nodded, understanding.

The two continued deeper into the pale realm, it looking more and more like a city. As they did, they encountered more life-sized chess pieces, both red and white. However, they were starting to take on familiar and disturbing forms to Roxas. The pawns seemed to shift, their singular eyes becoming more demonic as their mouths started to look like zippers, just like dusks. Knights were much larger and carried a massive sword and shield. They had no face, just a head in the shape of a horse similar to the samurai nobodies he used to command. The bishops held large books and had multiple staffs floating around them, firing lasers at them as their primary attack. They bore a twisted resemblance to both Xaldin and the Barrier Master Heartless he had faced before. The rooks were massive, looking more like small living towers than anything else. They too had no real face, just a mask where the face would be with a black, inverted Nobody symbol on it. The symbol was different in that the three spikes were arranged all pointing down like a trident instead of a cross. 'The Caterpillar wasn't kidding when he said I had an effect on this world,' the Nobody thought as they moved deeper into the black, white, and gray city, taking out any red pieces as they did. The white pieces merely nodded and accepted their help, showing them the way to their stronghold.

Roxas shivered as he held his Keyblades tight. This place bore a twisted resemblance to the Castle that Never Was. Even the layout was similar as they headed to the main audience chamber. There, they met the White King. The greater Nobody nearly attacked him on instinct. The White King had Xenmas' face, dressed in elegant white and black clothes with a crown. What had stopped Roxas from attacking though was while he bore the face of his old master, he actually had expression on his face. It was weird to see considering Xenmas never so much as quirked an eyebrow let alone allow worry to appear on his face like it did on the White King. "Greetings Alice and Roxas, as you can see, we're not doing so well. The Red Queen's forces are merciless and our own Queen is missing. Without her generalship, Red wins and we're all doomed."

Alice nodded in sympathy. "So are we if we can't pass through this realm. We need to find the remaining pieces of the Jabberwock Eye Staff."

The White King nodded in understanding. "We do have some spies looking into the situation. Supposedly they'll be able to tell us both what we want to know. Until then, please stay and rest, frankly you both look like hell."

The two were led to a simple room with two beds. Like the rest of the castle, it was colored primarily white with some gray and black. Alice and Roxas each sat down on a bed in silence, thinking over the past couple of days. Things had been hectic and now that they had a chance to stop and take a breath, it was all coming back to them. For Alice, her memories of the fire, her family's death, and her subsequent consignment and treatment at Rutledge all flooded her mind, causing her to hold herself to shake away a chill that had nothing to do with temperature. Screams echoing in her mind, though if they were hers, her family's, or those from the asylum she couldn't tell. In Roxas' mind it was the memories of Xion and how both of them were manipulated by both sides into basically committing suicide. He looked down at his hands, the memory of holding her as she crystallized and dissolved into particles of light replaying right in front of him.

Shaking her head and wanting to get away from the screams, Alice focused on something that had been bothering her for awhile now. "Roxas," she said softly, gaining his attention. "Your weapons, what are they and how did they change before?" she asked with true curiosity.

The blonde held up his hand and summoned Two Becomes One, letting her get a good look at it this time. "They're called Keyblades. From what I understand, they're powerful weapons that choose their wielder, why or how I don't know. I do know that they can open or lock any barrier, door, or locking mechanism."

The emerald-eyed girl looked over the weapon with interest, wishing she had met Roxas before the Fortress of Doors. "So you have no idea where they came from, who made them, or what they're true purpose is?" she asked.

He shook his head. "None whatsoever. All I do know is that they are normally weapons of Light and that they can seal the heart of a world in order to protect it from Heartless." Alice raised an eyebrow in question at the term. "Heartless are black creatures with yellow eyes born of pure darkness, either the natural darkness in the universe or the darkness in people's hearts. They are ruled by instinct and emotion and mindlessly seek out more hearts to collect, including the hearts of worlds themselves. The Keyblade can lock away a world's heart, preventing them from doing so. I guess it could also undo the lock as well."

Alice looked over Two Become One, having a greater respect for the weapon. She could see how such a thing could be useful. Then her mind caught something. "You said they were normally weapons of Light, what did you mean by that? And you still haven't explained why they changed form," she said sternly.

Roxas sighed before starting again. "Some Keyblades have affinities with other elements such as lightning, ice, fire, darkness, whatever. As for why mine changed form, that has to do with where I came from," he said reluctantly.

The dark-haired girl's eyebrow rose again. "Does this have anything to do with this Sora person Caterpillar mentioned?"

The boy let out another sigh, deciding that he might as well tell her everything. What did he have to lose at this point? "Sora is the Keyblade master, chosen by the Keyblade. As a result, everyone wants to control him for this power. However, during his journey to find and rescue someone dear to him, he did something I consider stupid though I don't know the details. In order to revive that person, he needed to release their heart which somehow had been placed in him. So he willingly released both his own heart and theirs, turning himself into a heartless."

"What does this have to do with you?" she asked curiously.

Roxas absently rubbed his head, feeling more tired than he was. "When someone with a strong will is turned into a heartless, their soul and shell remains and uses the power of nothingness itself to try and reform into what they originally were. These Nobodies as they're called have no hearts and are ruled by logic, able to think and plan. While they normally have no emotions due to having no hearts, they can fake them from the memories of their former lives. At least that's what most believe. In my experience, it's more like we have shadowed versions of emotions. We're able to feel, just not to extent of normal people," he said solemnly.

Alice's eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. He was the Nobody of this Sora person, a half-being abused by all sides. His Keyblades were created from Nothingness just as he was and thus were unique to him alone. If what he said was true and people wanted to control Sora, then they would see him as merely a piece of Sora to use to control him. But what about …? "Then your sister …" she trailed off.

"Xion," he said quietly, "was an experiment created by the Organization I was part of, which was made up of greater Nobodies like me. Their goal was to obtain hearts in order to become whole again, though now I don't know if that's true. She was supposed to be a replica of Sora that they could control, created from some of his stolen memories. Problem was, with her, me, and him all existing at the same time with someone already screwing around with Sora's memories, it affected both of us. We were manipulated by both sides, the Organization's enemy tricking her into thinking that suicide and joining back with Sora was the "right" thing to do," he said while making quotation marks in the air. "I wanted answers and when I left the Organization to find them I was captured by their enemy who was trying to revive Sora. They wanted to me to merge with him in order to complete him. I said to hell with that as I didn't owe any of them anything," he said with a sad smirk that Alice returned.

"So you left and ended up here in Wonderland where we met. That still doesn't explain why your Keyblades changed as they did," she pointed out.

"The two Keyblades I was using before, Oathkeeper and Oblivion originally belonged to Sora; and were created from his memories of his two closest friends. Since I want as little to do with him as possible, I changed them into Keyblades that represent me and Xion, Two Become One and Rejection of Fate," he said as he summoned the other Keyblade.

"But what changes a Keyblade's form?" she pressed.

He flipped the blades around, showing the bottom of the handles where Alice saw small chains connected to … talismans for lack of a better word. "Key chains. When attached to the Keyblade, it changes form, gaining new power and abilities depending on what the item or symbol is." He then moved to remove the key chain from Rejection of Fate. When he did, the Keyblade reverted to its standard form, looking like little more than a giant key.

Alice looked thoughtful as she looked at the form of the weapon. She could see why he would want a key chain on this thing if this was its standard form. "Does any key chain or item cause a transformation?" she asked curiously.

Roxas chuckled at that question. "You know, I wondered that as well. One time I bought a key chain from a town I visited often and when I attached it nothing happened. I guess the key chain has to be unique or special in some way for it to cause a reaction."

The older girl nodded, that would make sense, which brought up the question of what would cause a reaction? She brought her hand up to her chin in thought when it brushed up against her necklace. An idea hit her as she took it off and stared at it. This necklace had been given to her by her mother when she had been a child. It had been with her throughout all her travels in Wonderland and Rutledge. It was a small horseshoe that was almost the Greek letter omega. Like her it was worn and tarnished but still in relatively good condition considering they both had been through hell.

She took the string and quickly weaved it into something smaller and stronger before handing it to Roxas. "Try this," she urged, curious of the results of this little experiment. Roxas did as she asked and attached the new key chain to the currently standard Keyblade. At first nothing happened. However, twisted spirals of black and red energy collected around the horseshoe and crawled up the weapon. It soon covered the entire Keyblade as Roxas held it away from himself, having never seen a reaction like this. The twisted aura pulsed as it condensed itself around the Keyblade, reforming it based on the new keychain and its origins.

The new Keyblade was definitely unique. It was as long as Oblivion with its main colors were blood red and black. The handle guard was dark red and shaped like a jagged heart. The hilt had a black club on it like that from playing cards. Instead of one single blade, there were two dull silver colored blades emerging from the hilt, like single edged swords, with a diamond symbol at the end connecting them, dark red outlined in black. At the end of the blade of was a large spade, pointing to one side making up the teeth of the key. It was black outlined in dark red and looked lethally sharp as the two blades it was connected to. This new Keyblade gave off an aura of twisted order, almost warping the very air around it. Just holding it, Roxas could feel the new power it gave him and influence it had on his mind. This was a very potent and lethal weapon in more ways than one. This … was Sanity's Edge.

**Journal Entry: Day 365**

**Keyblade: Sanity's Edge**

**Strength: 80 Magic: 40 Defense: 5 Critical %: 25 Bonus: 7**

**Passive Ability: Warped Perception**

**Trigger Ability: Destiny Paths**

**Omega Ability: Checkmate**

A powerful and dangerous Keyblade formed from the charm worn by Alice of Dark Wonderland. This Keyblade focuses on anticipating your opponent's moves and countering them in unique ways to deliver lethal blows. This Keyblade grants three powerful, but very dangerous abilities. The first is a passive ability called Warped Perception. This allows the user to see the area in different ways, changing his or her perception to see and find things that would normally be impossible to see. Things that are normally undetectable or ignored become as prominent as a lit candle in a pitch black room. This makes it so the user sees and comprehends EVERYTHING in an area. The second ability, Destiny's Paths, is activated unconsciously by the user as needed. This ability allows the user to see ALL possible outcomes of the current situation based on what the user currently knows and detects and provides the most likely ones. This then allows the user to anticipate anything and react accordingly. The last ability Checkmate, must be consciously activated by the user. This ability allows the user to see how to win the battle at that exact moment in the most efficient way possible.

The main dangers of using this Keyblade come from overuse. While Sanity's Edge does grant the user powerful abilities, because those abilities are focused on the user's mind, overuse can cause madness as their perception and mind may also be permanently warped. Another danger is in the Checkmate ability. While this ability does allow the user to win any nearly battle, this ability's definition of victory is having your enemy permanently defeated by ANY means necessary, regardless of the cost to you or anyone or anything in the area. It also doesn't take into account possible future battles. The Checkmate ability should be used as a last resort if at all. Users of Sanity's Edge should take care as it is a double edged weapon in every sense of the phrase.

AN: I will be introducing new Keyblades, usually with more interesting abilities then what was in the games given the source of some of these Keyblades. Sanity's Edge is the first, based on Alice herself and its abilities are like Wing Zero from Gundam Wing. A great tactical advantage, but can drive the user insane from overuse. Any ideas for future Keyblades and their abilities are welcomed; the more unique the better. I based the stats on 358/2 Days as that was Roxas' game and this is a Roxas story. Each one will have a passive ability that he gets for simply using it, a trigger ability that needs to be activated some way, and an omega ability which is a super power of some sort. As for where Roxas is going, I made a list of places from games with a certain level of badass in the previous chapters.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 04: Day 366: Cracked Reflections

The next day Alice and Roxas met up with the White King again. It was still disturbing seeing the face of his old master so expressive. The fact that he was surrounded by so many reminders of his past put him on edge. He shook it off as the King spoke. "Alice, Roxas, we have received word that the White Queen is being held prisoner pending the Red Queen's … verdict," he spat the last word out in distaste. Both of them could guess why considering what the Red Queen's three favorite words were. "We don't have much time. I need you two to sneak in and rescue her. Doing so will help us all out as in her last communication the Queen said she knew where a piece of the Jabberwocky's Eye Staff was located." Both perked up at this. "Here, take this soldier with you. It's not much, but it's all we can spare at the moment," he said as he summoned a white pawn. The pawn shrunk itself to the size of a true chess piece.

Alice snorted as she picked up the chess piece and stuck it in one of her dress pockets. "A pawn is all you can spare?"

"Better than nothing," Roxas commented. "What are the rules?" he asked curiously.

The White King snorted, "Rules? There are no rules, there's barely any strategy! As I said, you two need to sneak in while we wage a frontal assault. I won't lie to you; you'll meet deadly traps and fierce opposition along the way."

Alice frowned as the overgrown chess piece. "Should we be grateful for the truth? A lie or two might have been more persuasive."

Roxas spoke solemnly, "In my experience, lies among allies just makes for more pain later."

The White King nodded in agreement. "Indeed, in war: truth first. There's always time for lies later. Follow the rooks. They'll lead you to the best place to sneak into the red realm. As soon as the battle starts, head in and try to rescue the White Queen," he explained. The two nodded and followed the tower like rooks, no saying anything.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

As the two followed the rooks, Roxas noticed that the red realm, while similar to the pale realm only with red in place of gray, had more city-like buildings. In fact, the area was starting to look like a mix of two very familiar worlds to Roxas; Twilight Town and the City that Never Was. The outer perimeter of the red realm was more like Twilight Town while in the distance were much taller buildings like from the City that Never Was. The cloaked Nobody shook it off as the sounds of battle echoed. He turned to Alice, "Let's go." She nodded and followed, having seen the look of recognition in his eyes.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the layout was identical to that of Twilight Town with some minor variations here and there. Thus Roxas was able to keep the two from being seen as white chess pieces attacked red. It was utter chaos. Roxas had seen battles before but never on this scale. Though he hid it as best he could, it disturbed him to watch the various chess pieces slaughtered, leaving broken, bleeding corpses. Despite this place being modeled after chess, this was no game.

Alice shook him out of his train of thought. "Where do we start looking? Since you seem to know the layout of this place better than I do, where do you think they would take the White Queen?" she asked calmly.

The Keyblade wielder was silent for a moment. It was obvious now how much his presence in this world was affecting it. The mutated forms of the chess pieces and the very land itself testified to that. Would that also include behavior and scenes from his memories? If so, then he had a good guess as to where the White Queen was being taken. He turned and looked at the tallest building in the area … a black and red clock tower bearing a twisted resemblance to one he knew so well. "There, that's the most likely place," he said quietly. Alice nodded and the two were off.

Along the way they met little opposition as most of it was being diverted to defend against the whites. What few reds they encountered were quickly killed before they could raise an alarm. In short order the two made it to the clock tower plaza and just like Roxas had guessed, there was the White Queen … in a guillotine. He had to do a double take as he saw the White Queen, she had a face that looked like a combination of Alice and Xion's; Alice's facial features but with Xion's eyes and hair. It was hard for him to watch what was doubtlessly going to happen.

Unfortunately for them she was surrounded by red chess pieces including the Red King himself. Like the White King, he had the face of Xenmas, but darker colored, wearing royal red robes. 'No … not Xenmas,' he thought as rage built up in him. 'Riku.' It was now that he put the pieces together. Riku had used Xenmas' heartless to defeat him at Memory's Skyscraper. His anger ebbed as that brought up the question of who was really in control, Riku or Xenmas' Heartless? How was he even able to summon that form in the first place? He shook it off and watched dismayed as the White Queen struggled in the medieval execution device. Before either he or Alice could act, the blade came down and the White Queen was dead.

"Damn it," he muttered as the two slipped into the shadows before being seen. He turned to Alice and quietly whispered, "What do we do now? The White Queen is dead and with her any information about the Eye Staff pieces."

The girl was quiet for a moment before her emerald eyes lit up as she remembered something from one of her earlier visits to Wonderland. "In chess, if a pawn makes it to the eighth square they can become a queen. If we take this pawn to the eighth square in the red realm it will become a new White Queen, hopefully with the information we need."

Roxas looked at her as if she was mad, which all things considered she probably was. "Would that even work?" he asked doubtfully.

Alice glared at him. "You have a better idea?"

The two made their way deeper into the red realm, avoiding as many red chess pieces as possible. It became increasingly more difficult the further they went as the number of pieces increased and the landscape changed from a town to more like a city. More than once the two had to duck into a dark building to avoid being seen. The inside of the buildings were even creepier than the outside. Many were filled with odd items, broken toys, storybooks that were half burned or ripped, and a few broken dolls that bore a disturbing resemblance to the members of Organization XIII. Others had mutilated bodies that looked like they had been experimented on in some way, parts of their bodies replaced by clockwork mechanisms. This whole place was just creepy beyond words. Eventually, the two made it to the eighth square and to Roxas' horror it was a large, blood red version of Memory's Skyscraper. Even worse, standing in front of the building on a large red square was the Red King.

Roxas' rage returned ten-fold from before at seeing the faces of the two who had hurt him and Xion the worst at the same time on the same person. Without thinking he summoned Sanity's Edge and Two Become One and attacked the Red King, much to the surprise of Alice who quickly followed. The effects of Sanity's Edge kicked in immediately as the Red King summoned what looked like a massive cross between a rook and a knight behind him, just like the Guardian Heartless that had been behind Riku when he changed forms. However, the face of this guardian just enraged Roxas more as it was covered by many red bands with only a single yellow eye visible. At that moment, all three of Roxas' most hated adversaries were in front of him in a single form; Riku, Xenmas, and DiZ. He attacked with his rage and the effects of Sanity's Edge taking over.

The Red King immediately saw the enraged Roxas and threw massive blade rings of energy stop him. The black-hooded Nobody easily dodged the rings and went straight for the King. The Guardian appeared in front of the King, blocking the deadly Keyblades with the stone hide of his arm. Alice took to attacking from long range from behind, using her spiked jacks to attack. The flying, metal spikes swarmed the King like angry hornets, ripping through him as the guardian was busy. The Red King roared in pain and sent a wave of lightning bolts towards Alice as the Guardian's fist slammed into Roxas, knocking him away. The girl's eyes widened as she dodged to the side to get away.

Immediately, Roxas developed a new plan of attack. "Alice! Attack his front from a distance!" he yelled at her as he readied for another assault. The teen nodded and did as told, launching a Jack bomb at the King. Roxas followed it, readying his Keyblades. As before, the Guardian appeared in front to protect the King from the attack. However this time, Roxas jumped over it and slashed the King's exposed back. The Xenmas duplicate screamed in pain and instantly a sphere of red and black energy enveloped him in a defense. The greater Nobody was blasted away, skidding across the checkered floor from the energy surge.

Alice's eyes widened as she continued to dodge the Guardian. The thing kept rushing at her like a Rook but much faster and covered in energy. Even worse was the thing teleported at random making it even harder to dodge and counter attack. Despite keeping her eyes on her opponent, she had seen the look of rage on Roxas' face at the sight of the Red King. She had a pretty good guess that he resembled one of his enemies from the past. She watched as he shook with rage, looking like he wanted nothing more than to eliminate the King by any means necessary. He was on his knees, looking down as the very air around him seemed to warp.

Roxas' rage grew as Sanity's Edge started to pulse with twisted energy. The energy bled off the weapon and onto its wielder, covering him in black and red. Both he and his coat changed. His coat changed to a blood red with black flame designs lining the bottom. The very air around him warped from the heat and energy being given off. Alice's eyes widened as she could see his hands change into dark red talons, similar to when rage over took her, with black spikes on the knuckles. His face took on a more demonic look as his eyes went from blue and white to red and yellow, looking disturbingly like the Jabberwocky's eyes. His teeth sharpened into fangs that glistened as he snarled at the King, getting into an attack stance.

Before either the Red King or Alice could react, Roxas attacked. In a flash of red and black, the transformed Nobody was on the living chess piece. Immediately, the Guardian appeared to block the attack as Roxas moved in to use his Duel Stance move. However, instead of stopping the attack, both the Guardian and the King were knocked back into the wall of one of the nearby buildings, leaving an imprint. Alice's eyes widened at the massive show of power as Roxas once again dashed at Red King, looking like little more than a flash of black and red light and leaving a wake of it behind him. The chess piece moved out of the way in time, barely, as the Keyblade wielder slashed at where he had been, arcs of energy appearing from his Keyblades and leaving massive gouges in the building.

Alice's watched in a mixture of amazement, contemplation, and fear. Roxas transformation was similar to hers when she was overcome by rage. However, there were certain differences, one of which was that while she retained full control when she transformed, it was unknown if Roxas himself was in control of if it was his instincts combined with the influence of Sanity's Edge, which had seemed to jump start the transformation in the first place. There was also the difference in abilities. While her rage transformation granted her increased strength and power, Roxas' seemed to give him an entire new set of abilities. For one thing, he hadn't used any magic what-so-ever and instead was using only close combat moves. Whatever this was, it was more than a basic rage transformation.

The transformed Roxas pressed his attack, slashing with seemingly wild moves, though they were anything but. The Red King and his Guardian were being pushed back with the Guardian taking heavy damage as the black and red energy slashed through its stone hide. The Red King tried to back away to use either his ring blades or lightning attacks, but couldn't as the boy kept on him relentlessly. Even worse was he was keeping a set distance from the King, too far that the King's energy shield would have no real effect and yet close enough so that he could attack and that the King's long range attacks would be ineffective. What was even worse was that the Roxas kept attacking from alternate sides, forcing the King back more and more until he discovered he was in the worst place for a King to be on a chessboard when faced with a much more mobile piece, a corner. The Red King's back was literally to a corner with no place to further retreat to.

The Red King's eyes widened as both of Roxas' Keyblades blazed with twisted energy, forming massive ethereal swords and doubling in size and length. In quick succession, he made a downward X shaped slash, then two upward vertical slashes, jumping high above the Red King, before bringing the blades together in one powerful downward slash right down the middle, turning his back to the King as he finished the attack. Alice watched as for a moment the slashes flashed with light all at the same time, creating the Roman numeral for thirteen, XIII. With that Final Thirteen attack, the Red King and his Guardian screamed as they were engulfed in an inferno of red and black energy. Roxas grinned a fanged smile and whispered one word that Alice heard clearly despite the haunting screams of the dying chess piece. "Checkmate."

With his enemy dead and energy spent, Roxas reverted to his normal form, the energy dissipating as he fell to his knees exhausted. Alice ran to him, concern on her face. "Roxas, are you all right? What happened?" she asked as she helped him to his feet.

Despite his victory, Roxas was very unsteady as that new form's first transformation took a lot out of him. "I don't know what happened. I just … went crazy at the sight of that … thing." He shook his head to try and clear it. "Never mind that, just get the pawn to the square and change it to a queen. I don't think the reds will be all that happy that their king is dead," he said as he leaned on his Keyblades.

Alice nodded and quickly did so. She placed the pawn on the large red square and backed up a few feet. Immediately the little one-eyed pawn was covered in white energy and immediately became an exact duplicate of the White Queen from earlier. She smiled at Alice. "Thank you for reviving me. We don't have much time. There are only two remaining pieces of the Jabberwock Eye Staff. One of course is the Jabberwocky's eye. The other is the claw that holds the eye to the staff. It is unfortunately located in the lair of the Mad Hatter beyond the looking glass. If you can gain the other two pieces and complete the staff, you'll be able to breech the defenses of the Red Queen's Keep. It's also the only thing that can actually kill the Jabberwock now."

Alice nodded, however before the White Queen could continue, the plaza like area was soon flooded with red chess pieces. Roxas was still too exhausted to fight and before Alice could join in the fight, she was ambushed … by someone she knew all too well. Standing above the knocked out and captured Alice and Roxas was the lanky, cyborg form of the Mad Hatter.

The Mad Hatter chuckled as they were loaded up. "Take them to my lab. I want to start examining them as soon as possible, especially the boy. Quickly now, we have a schedule to keep," he chuckled as he checked his watch.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Far away in Twilight Town, Namine kept watch over Sora, her worry increasing as the machine's readings spiked, signifying something important happening. Given what had happened before, it immediately concerned the girl. She looked into the Keyblade master's mind and heart to see what had happened and nearly screamed at the sight. In the Dive to Heart, deep within Sora heart, she saw the faded image of a fearsome creature in the distance. The Nobody girl created a path towards the motionless creature

The creature was wrapped in chains with a massive lock in the center. The creature itself was humanoid and huge, easily as big as a Darkside heartless. Its body was dark red and thickly muscled. It had huge shoulders with massive forearms and claws that were crossed over its chest. Its feet also sported claws and despite being thinner than the arms, the legs were also well muscled. Oddly, it wore a pair baggy, torn, white shorts and long black coat minus the sleeves. The part that fascinated her the most was the face. The creature had spiked teeth with red and yellow eyes, its hair looking more like spikes than hair. The most disturbing thing though was the face. Namine could swear it looked familiar somehow. 'What is this thing and why is it here, with Sora's heart and mind, yet seemingly trying to separate itself? This doesn't make any sense.'

It was then she looked down to see what the chains were connected to. The girl Nobody was shocked to see station pillars, similar to what Sora had, except these were incomplete. There were two stations, one next to the other with one being much larger than the other. The larger one was primarily colored white and black with the image of Roxas in his Organization coat, facing left, with a shield with XIII on it on his shoulder, though the lower half of the image was still incomplete. Next to Roxas' face was a half circle with a partial image of Xion on it.

The second station pillar was smaller and had the chains that were wrapped around the faded creature. Like the larger, it was incomplete but it did have an image on it. The background was red and black with the image of a young woman on it. She was dressed in a blue dress with a white apron, holding what looked like a butcher knife and some strange, demonic staff. She had dark brown, almost black hair, and piercing green eyes. 'Who is she and where did these stations come from?' she thought as she gazed at them. What did all of this mean? What was going on between Sora and Roxas?

**Journal Entry: Day 366**

**Vengeance Form**

**Abilities: Flash Rush, Dragon Scale Armor**

**Special Attacks: Infernal Stance, Element Blade, Sword Shockwave**

**Final Move: Final Thirteen**

This form is the embodiment of Roxas' rage and need for vengeance on those who have wronged him. Focusing on strength and close combat, this form takes all magical ability and transforms it into raw physical power and brute force. This results in increased speed, strength, and durability which manifests as the Dragon Scale Armor, giving his body and face a draconic appearance. To keep from overloading, any excess energy is bled off through the Keyblades as small energy slashes. This can be focused in one of two ways, either as specific elements such as Thunder or Fire channeled through his Keyblades, or as powerful shockwaves that rip through an area and opponent. Roxas' signature move Duel Stance is changed into the more powerful Infernal Stance. The main difference with this attack and his normal one is that it takes all of this form's power and focuses it into a single striking point, making it very lethal. This form also grants the Flash Rush ability that allows Roxas to move from spot to spot as a beam of living light which also transfers to his normal form, though not as effective. This form's ultimate attack is Final Thirteen, five precise slashes with two fully energized Keyblades that leave the image of XIII on the target and causing massive damage.

While this form does grant incredible power, it does have its drawbacks. The first is that Roxas cannot use magic in this form as all of that energy has been converted into physical power other than through the Element Blade and Sword Shockwave abilities. The second is that he can only sustain this form for a limited time, how long depends on his initial condition. Lastly is that this form is meant for close-combat and has no long range abilities. Also, if he attempts to transform while at his weakest or transforms too much, he then risks going into Void Form (to be defined later) rather than Vengeance Form.

AN: Yes, Roxas does have his own Form now and will have his own versions of all of Sora's forms, just modified to fit Roxas. The creature was based off of Jabberwock from the anime Project Arms. For those wondering, the current world is from American McGee's Alice. Other games I'm thinking of using are Jak 3, Brutal Legend, Bayonetta, Bioshock 2, Legacy of Kain: Defiance, Okami, Metroid Other M, and God of War 2/3.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 05: Day 367: Clockwork Conversations

Darkness consumed Roxas as he attempted to wake. Memories of his time in the Organization, with Xion and Axel, and his recent adventures with Alice all around him along with memories from Sora flew around his mind as he tried to make sense of it all. As he did, he noticed something odd. While the memories that were most decidedly his were getting clearer and clearer as he recovered from Namine's manipulation, those that belonged to Sora were faded a little, dimmer than what they had been before. Despite this, he still struggled to wake up given the situation when he had blacked out.

Eventually, he found his way out of the darkness and opened his eyes … and immediately wished he had stayed unconscious. Pain coursed through every nerve as a number of machines were attached to his body, holding him in what looked like a clockwork version of a medieval torture rack. In front of him were two … creatures. One looked like a large mouse, though his hind legs had been replaced by gears and metal. The screw and nails poking out of its head didn't look very good either. The other was a rabbit; at least it had probably been a rabbit at some point. Now though it was hard to tell. Like Roxas he was bound to the wall and looked to be in pain. Its lower left hind leg was gone and its right leg and arm were replaced by machines, just as the mouse. It was bound in a straight jacket with its lower lip stretched grotesquely downward. Both were awake, though the mouse looked very sleepy while the rabbit or hare or whatever looked like it had been hyped up on who-knows-what, twitching violently. "Wh … where am … I," Roxas strained to asked, his throat, like the rest of him, sore.

The Hare responded immediately. "You're in the Hatter's lab. He's taken quite an interest with you sir. Wants to know what makes you tick or tock. Bad luck for that though, he's quite mad. Speaking of which, how is Organization XIII not like a typhoon?"

Roxas took a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself through the pain. The scrambling of his memories, his current predicament, and the fact that he was still recovering from that weird form change with Sanity's Edge made it hard to concentrate on anything. Thus when the Hare posed the riddle, he immediately latched onto it, not caring at this point how the Hare knew of Organization XIII or that it wouldn't help him in escaping. He just needed to focus on something simple and this was it. "Both are powerful, devastating, and destroy those who stand against them, but the typhoon doesn't choose to be," he replied.

"Good answer, incorrect, but good," the Hare replied to Roxas surprise. His mind started to work over how his answer had been wrong. He knew the Organization better than anyone else currently in Wonderland, so what could the Hare be implying then? Before he could dwell on it further, the door to the lab they were in opened and in walked the lanky form of the Mad Hatter.

He was tall, at least eight foot, and thin, wearing black pants, fine shoes, and an unfastened straitjacket. The clockwork cyborg smiled as he approached the restrained Nobody. "Well my boy, enjoying your accommodations? Not the most elegant I'll admit, but we make do with what we have, don't we?" he asked rhetorically with a British style accent.

Roxas coughed for a moment before speaking. "What … do you want?" he asked quietly.

The large nosed man smiled at his response. "Right to the point eh? Very good, very efficient, I like that. To answer your question, I want answers. You see, Roxas was it, what I want is more information about you. What you are, where you came from and where you've been. Ever since your entry into Wonderland, your memories have started to affect it. Your interaction with Alice has excited this … infection even further," he spoke as he checked his various machines and experiments.

"What does Alice have to do with this?" he asked though he already had an idea.

The Hatter chuckled. "Don't be simple my boy. Surely you've realized that she is a central piece to this world and always has been. You on the other hand are a foreign object, a virus infecting Wonderland and I want to know more about you. True, Wonderland has brought some of your past to light, but only the events and memories that are most prevalent. The more minor events and details are either ignored or lost." The Hatter now came up to the boy, holding a tri-pronged device that was sparking violently. "And you know what they say my dear boy," he spoke with a large twisted grin, though not quite as large as the Cheshire Cat's, "the devil is always in the details." Thus, Roxas' torment began.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Alice walked around the maze of mirrors, her eyes darting this way and that as she searched for both the Hatter and Roxas. When she had woken up, she had been in a twisted room looking at a painting of Doctor Wilson, her "physician" at Rutledge in the loosest sense of the term. She had fallen down from the wall she had been laying on and was surprised at where she was. Apparently the Hatter had put her here as an experiment of some sort, like a mouse running a maze. 'When I find him, I'll show him what this mouse can do,' she thought savagely as she continued through the maze, ignoring the twisted children around her. As much as she wanted to help them, she couldn't really do anything for them as they were simply too far gone.

Of course, given what she was seeing in the mirrors, she might not be too far behind them. The walls of this entire maze were covered in mirrors that covered them completely. Each section of wall showed something OTHER than her normal reflection and it was starting to bother her. Some mirrors showed her parents walking with her down the hall. Others showed her as she was when she had first entered Rutledge, burned and horribly scared. A few were of when she entered Wonderland the first time as a child. There were also some mirrors that showed the "real world" to her, where her body was a Rutledge, what her doctors were doing and other such things though given that Roxas entered Wonderland she had to wonder which world was truly real. Finally, there were also mirrors that showed her and Roxas together, in a deadly battle with each other, together against an unknown enemy, or together in more … compromising positions that made Alice blush somewhat.

The dark haired girl shook her head as she made her way through the maze, breaking mirrors, killing automatons and mask spiders, and generally trying to keep focused. This place was so much like Rutledge and yet not. She had entered a new area, designed to look like the halls of the asylum and yet … not. The overall layout was the same but the style was completely different. For one thing, everything was a pristine white, almost crystal like. Despite the scent of decay and chemicals, the place was absolutely spotless. The contrast was difficult to deal with at best. She continued on until she came to a control room. Inside were two large forms, both twisted and grotesque, and dressed in red and white striped shirts with caps similar to outfits young boys would wear to a school. The larger of the two spoke first. "Look Dum, its whatshername, from the neurotic's ward. Nurse's favorite lunatic."

The smaller of the two, Tweedle Dum just snorted before speaking, "Oh, yeah? Scrawny, ain't she? Who let her out then? They'll blame us, most like."

"She'll need medicine, strong medicine," the larger Dee replied simply.

"She got anything to eat?" Dum asked suddenly.

"Doubt it. She never finishes her grub at the asylum. She had any meat on her, she'd make a delectable dish," Tweedle Dee chuckled out loud must to the girl's disgust.

"Where's Roxas?" she demanded of the two ogre-like wardens.

Dum chuckled at her question. "That worthless Nobody? Why would anyone care about it? Not like it's worth anything other than fixing Sora," he said plainly.

"Should've faded away like the rest of its kind. Not like they're good for anything," Dee stated as if it were a commonly known fact.

Alice's rage boiled as she heard their comments, both about her and Roxas. The greater Nobody may have just become her friend recently, but the two did have a bond of sorts, shared by those who have lost so much. Like her, he had lost the only family he had, or at least the closest thing he had to family. They both shared a deep guilt for surviving where their family had not, whether it was due to luck or something else. There was also the rage both of them shared at their imprisonment. While Roxas' was much shorter, it was no less damaging. To be given a near perfect life only find it all false and only there to hold you until you cease to exist was beyond cruel. The fact that there was literally no one he could trust made it worse. Alice at least had those from Wonderland and Nurse D and was lost in her own mind for most of it. She wouldn't let them debase her or Roxas.

As her thoughts whirled, her rage grew exponentially. This in turn caused a transformation similar to Roxas'. She grew an extra foot in height, muscles bulging out as her skin shifted to a solid red, taking on a rough, reptilian like texture. Two large horns grew out of the sides of her head, curving backward and around similar to goat horns. Her fingers lengthened and sharpened, become lethal claws, her teeth sharpening into fangs as she extruded an aura of pure hate and malice. The Tweedle twins backed up in surprise as she glared at them with eyes even the Jabberwock would fear. In their moment of fear, she attacked ruthlessly with the Vaporal Blade.

While both of them were larger than her, they weren't nearly as fast or nimble and this cost them dearly. Tweedle Dee lost his right arm almost immediately. While he screamed in pain, Alice immediately attacked from behind, thrusting the Vaporal Blade into his spine, the tip erupting out of his chest. Despite his name, Dum was anything but and immediately turned to run, knowing he had no chance against an enraged Alice like this. He didn't get far as Alice appeared in front of him in a burst of speed, surprising the monstrous orderly. Before he could react, she wrapped a clawed hand around his fact throat and lifted him off the ground. Her eyes blazed, smoke coming out of her mouth and nose as she spoke, "Where is Roxas?"

The lone Tweedle struggled to keep breathing in her iron grip. "I … I don't know!" The claw tightened around his neck, digging into his flesh and drawing blood. "The Hatter has him," he wheezed as he tried to loosen her grip enough to get some air.

"Where?" she demanded again, her eyes glowing as she spoke.

Before Dum could say anything a shot rang out. Alice dived to the side as Tweedle Dum's head blew up, the body falling lifeless into a massive pool of blood. The demonized girl turned to see the finger tip of the Hatter smoking like a used gun. The clockwork cyborg quickly brought it to his face and blew the smoke away as if he had done this all before countless times. "Pity, reliable help is so hard to find these days. Come in my dear, you're just in time for tea," he said pleasantly, completely ignoring her infernal form or the fact that he had just blown the head off of his own henchman.

The girl's now fiery eyes narrowed as she gripped the Vaporal Blade tighter. "I only take mine with friends. Where's Roxas?" she growled out.

The Hatter smiled a twisted sort of smile, a combination of an insane grin and an I-know-something-you-don't-know smirk. "Count me to among them, accurately, I mean honestly. That's the truth. Oh, I quite forgot, you and "the truth" are not on familiar terms," he said arrogantly.

Alice raised a spiked eyebrow, her rage dimming only slightly. "And you would know?" she snorted.

His smile just widened slightly. "Truth is always bitter to those who fear it," he stated as if it were a simply fact.

The girl's rage shot up at the implied insult. "I fear nothing. Where is Roxas?" she demanded, bringing her weapon to bear.

The man in the massive, checkered top hat sneered at her, ignoring her question. "False! You fear much … A return trip to the asylum, for example, the memories that drove you there, more years in, shall we say, supervised hospitalization, and of course, more recently the loss of your new acquaintance, the Nobody. Ah yes, you fear much. Of course that might be avoided …" he trailed off with a knowing look in his eye.

Alice snarled, sick of these mind games. "Enough! I'll not ask again, where is Roxas?" she demanded. The Hatter merely tapped his cane on the floor. Immediately, the ground below Alice started to crack. Before she could do anything, the entire floor gave away, sending the girl into a twisted abyss of metal and darkness. The last thing she saw was the grinning face of the Mad Hatter looking down at her.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The emerald-eyed eighteen year-old woke up with a massive headache. While the fall hadn't killed her due to her transformed state, she would still be feeling it for some time. She was now in a padded white room similar to her room at Rutledge. By falling unconscious she had reverted to her normal form and was now in a good amount of pain from the fall. 'I get him for that,' she thought viciously as she kicked the door to her cell open. 'First things first, I have to find Roxas.' The girl let her cell, now walking through another part of the Hatter's realm. This place, like the one above it, was all colored a pristine white, yet there were cracks everywhere and lines of energy running through everything. It was also completely silent. Unlike above where the sounds of gears and machines whirled constantly, here everything was unnaturally quiet. Alice involuntarily shivered, she never liked things this quiet.

The girl ran through the hallways of the underground lab, taking out what few defenses there were. She passed by various rooms and labs, all containing twisted experiments, most having to do with making machines out of living things. Alice tried to ignore it all as best she could as she searched the place. Eventually, she came to a larger laboratory with an automated machine that was turning some of the insane children she had seen around Wonderland into more automatons. She looked away from the machine and to the rest of the lab. Her eyes widened; finally … she had found Roxas.

Her friend was shackled to the wall, unconscious and hooked up to a number of machines that were all sparking violently. His coat was laid to the side on a table. His white undercoat and black shirt were badly torn, revealing a number of fresh scars on his body. Blood dripped down his face and into what looked like a collection device placed below him. Alice's only comfort was that he was still breathing, though it looked like he was having a hard time of it.

Shaking herself out of her shock, Alice immediately slashed at the cables connecting the machines and pulled the devices off of him, taking care to cause a little pain or additional damage as possible. The shaking woke the boy up. He slowly lifted his head and looked her with his left eyes as his right was closed tight with pain. "Al … Alice," he groaned out painfully, happy to see her.

She turned to him, worry clear in her emerald eyes. "Be still, I'll get you out of here," she said quietly as she started to work on the clamps holding him. However, these were much sturdier than the other machines, probably made to hold anyone while they thrashed in pain under the Hatter's … care. "Blasted cuffs," she muttered.

Roxas, seeing her having no luck and knowing they needed to move, started to concentrate. Almost immediately, a plain kingdom Keyblade appeared in his hand. "Use … this," he muttered as it started to fall from his limp hand. Alice quickly moved to catch it. As soon as the Keyblade was in her grip, it transformed in a flash of black and red light into Sanity's Edge. Given that she was the source of the keychain, she didn't question it nor did she have any real time to. Pointing the weapon at Roxas; four beams of light shot out of the tip, hitting the shackles. Immediately, all four opened and released their prisoner, causing him to fall to the ground. Alice caught him and set him down gently, retrieving his jacket and covering him with it. Once he was safely on the floor, she looked around for anything that might be able to help him. It was then she saw a cabinet filled with jars of Meta-essence. 'Probably to keep his patients alive as long as possible,' she thought viciously as she went over to collect some of the vials.

She stopped for a moment to consider. Meta-essence was the life-energy of Wonderland, all of its inhabitants had it and it coursed through the land like blood. Roxas however was not a natural resident of Wonderland like her and thus she had no idea if this would help him or not. Even if it did take, there was no telling what lasting effects using Meta-essence on a Nobody would be. Still it wasn't like they had many options at the moment. Taking a chance, she placed the glowing red crystal on her friend's chest.

It took a moment, but the crystal was absorbed into Roxas' body, his wounds healing though not completely. Alice let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Roxas slowly got up, his body still aching though not as bad as before. He got to his feet with Alice's help. He turned to her, a weary smile on his face. "Thanks. Now, let's get out of here and find that staff piece," he said sincerely. She nodded and the two left the room, but not before Roxas turned and launched a Firaga at the machines that had been used to torture him, blowing them all into satisfying little pieces.

The Cheshire Cat appeared as they left, his grin still firmly in place. "Quick as Mercury and mad from it … among other things, the Hatter is obsessed with time. Find him or your own time may be cut short," he intoned before fading away again. Roxas just shook his head and gave a humorless chuckled as Alice rolled her eyes at the fading feline.

The two made their way through the labyrinthine laboratories, taking out whatever defenses laid in their way. While Roxas was weakened, after receiving the Meta-essence, he was well enough to fight though Alice did keep an eye on him as they did so. Eventually they made their way to a large cage suspended over an endless pit. Inside the cage was another old friend of Alice's, Griffon. "Well, it's nice to see another friendly face in this mad house," she said kindly. "Tell me, do you know the location of the Jabberwock staff piece?"

The half-bird half-lion shook his head sadly. "No. Most likely the Hatter has it and he doesn't show up around here until six o'clock on the dot."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "For what? His tea?"

Again, Griffon shook his head. "No, to check his cruel experiments. With gears, springs, levers, and mechanical gizzards, he seeks an impossible precision like a watchmaker obsessed with infinitesimal fractions of seconds, or a mathematician that tries to square the circle. He'll turn all the inhabitants into his automatons, or kill them in the attempt as your friend can attest to," he said motioning to Roxas, who only nodded in agreement.

Alice frowned. "That's awful. Six o'clock you say?"

Griffon nodded, "Six precisely, by all the clocks in this place."

Roxas smirked. "Perhaps six will be earlier than usual today," he commented, "Don't worry, once the Hatter is taken care of we'll come back for you. I promise."

"I'll hold you to that." The two nodded and continued on, determined to find the Hatter and the second staff piece.

**Journal Entry: Day 367**

**The Mad Hatter:**

Out of all the denizens I've met so far in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter is truly the most twisted at least mentally. The guy is obsessed with knowing everything and forcing everything to his precise schedule. In a way he reminds me of Vexen, both arrogant know-it-alls who believe they know best at all times, though Vexen never tortured me with electricity just his attitude. Why he is so obsessed with time I have no clue, though Alice says it's because time turned its back on him, making it tea time all the time. Normally I would call that crazy, but given what I've seen especially in Wonderland, I won't rule out it possibly being true.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 06: Day 368: Void Program Installed

Alice and Roxas made their way through the clockwork maze, seeking both the staff piece and the Hatter. Along the way they met up with a number of automatons and mask spiders. More than once they had nearly bitten one of the two. Both had experience with the delirious state caused by the spiders and did not seek to experience that again. The entire place was a mobile labyrinth and yet the two knew where to go thanks to the staff piece Alice had. Apparently the pieces of the Jabberwock Eye Staff resonated with one another along with the Jabberwock himself, like magnets pulling on one another. Still, that did not make actually getting through the place any easier. Alice turned to Roxas who was still having a little trouble despite being healed earlier. "How are you holding up?" she asked.

Roxas snorted. "I've been better. You do know the Hatter is leading us into a trap right?" he said motioning to the staff in her hand guiding them. Alice nodded solemnly. It would stupid to think someone as scientific and obsessed with precision as the Hatter would overlook something like that about the staff pieces.

The two made their way past a number of labs, some containing machines, others containing things that defied logic or reason, even the reason of Wonderland. Finally they came to the central clock tower. Inside there were a number of knobs, dials, and switches. Working quickly, Alice reset the central clock, making it strike six far earlier than before. As a result, ALL the clocks in this place of twisted time and metal struck six at the same time. "There, that should flush him out and hopefully the staff piece with him," Alice commented. Roxas just nodded and the two quickly ran out of the tower before they were discovered.

A gate nearby opened leading to a large open platform shaped like a gear with three smaller clock towers. The sky around them swirled with energy and various images, some from the past, some the present, and some the future. It was a literal whirlpool of time. In the center of the platform was a small stand with what looked like an ornate demon's claw. The two looked at each other and nodded, knowing what they were getting into. As soon as Alice grabbed it and attached it to the staff, the Cheshire Cat appeared, his grin piercing the twisting twilight around them. "The Staff lacks only the Jabberwock's eye. Though he has two, I understand he's quite fond of them both. I doubt time will change his mind. Speaking of which, where's the Hatter?" he asked before fading away again. The two looked around until they saw in the center clock tower, in what looked like a control room, their host watching them with his usual smug smile.

Immediately Roxas brought out his Keyblades while Alice readied her Jacks and knife. The three clock towers chimed at the same time, and thus appeared the Hatter. He still held his twisted smile as he spoke in a superior manner that reminded Roxas of Vexen. "Ah, right on time. Now then as I was saying before, all your fears might be avoided if you simply hand over the Eye Staff," he said as he held out his hand as if he honestly expected them to do so. The two said nothing as they got into battle positions. "I see, well then it seems I'll be taking my tea a little later than usual today," he sneered before he started to attack.

Out of the Hatter's back appeared a number of clockwork arms, each with their own tool or weapon. One arm had a large saw, another a drill, a blowtorch, and the fourth being a large wrench-like claw. Wasting no time, the Mad Hatter attacked, firing off bullets from his fingers. Alice and Roxas immediately dodged, both going in different directions. Alice launched her Jacks at the cyborg only for them to have limited effect due to his metallic structure. Roxas dashed forward, Two Become One and Sanity's Edge blazing with energy as he avoided the teapot bombs being launched from his enemy's twisted top hat. Once he got close enough, he proceeded to attack once to have every one of his strikes blocked by the four mechanical arms out of his back. Reacting quickly, Roxas flipped over the Hatter, landed, and twisted around, both Keyblades flashing as he attempted his Dual Stance move, only to have it stopped cold by the wrench claw. "What!?" he exclaimed in surprise just before the claw threw him hard into one of the clock towers with a sickening crack.

The cyborg chuckled as he turned the blow torch towards Alice who defended with the Ice Wand. "You'll have to do better than that my boy. I've been studying you both since you entered Wonderland. I know everything you two are capable of and have taken all necessary precautions as you can see," he said smugly as he advanced on the dark-haired girl, intent on capturing the incomplete Eye Staff.

Roxas struggled to get up, his body screaming at him with his head throbbing both from the torture he had received earlier and from the prolonged use of Sanity's Edge. He had been using it ever since the Red King battle and it was starting to affect him badly. The strain of Warped Perception and Destiny's Paths on his mind had finally gotten to him. Unconsciously he caused Sanity's Edge to transform into Rejection of Fate in a flash of light. He could see Alice trying to slow down the Hatter with the Ice Wand and Jack Bombs, but having little success due to the blow torch and drill. The greater Nobody hoisted himself up, leaning heavily on his Keyblades to do so. 'I have to transform again,' he thought wildly. He concentrated on his Keyblades, trying to will himself into Vengeance Form. Both sparked wildly like severed electricity cables in water as energy built. However, unlike before when it was black and red, it was now black, white, and gray. Almost immediately, he knew something was wrong. The twisting nothingness engulfed him as he screamed.

Both the Hatter and Alice stopped dead at the sound, wondering what was happening. The twisting energy created a cocoon before dispersing revealing the transformed Roxas. The result looked like a smaller, altered version of a Twilight Thorn. Roxas was in an off white, full-body suit with what looked like a large zipper running from the collar all the way down. Large gray gloves covered his forearms and sported blade-like talons. He lower legs were thinner with his feet also being blade-like with two smaller blades on the sides for support. His face was completely covered by an off white helmet with the Nobody symbol in pure white on the front where the face would normally be. The only color he had was on his collar and the four long whips connected to it, which was royal blue. His hair was still visible, though it was still spiky; it had lengthened to reach down his back like a spiky tail and had changed from dark blond to pale white. Roxas had unintentionally entered Void Form.

The transformed greater Nobody stood motionless for moment before moving and deliberately looking at the two combatants. He first looked at Alice who was staring at him confused and scared having seen what his Vengeance Form was capable form. Roxas spoke in a metallic, monotone voice with no emotion whatsoever. "Subject: Alice Liddell. Classification: Ally. Threat level minimal. Ignore," he said much to the girl's relief and annoyance. He then looked at the clockwork cyborg who was studying him intently. "Subject: The Mad Hatter. Classification: Enemy. Threat level medium. Delete." With that, he immediately went on the attack.

Immediately, Roxas' form twisted towards the Hatter, as if having no bones or internal structure. Taking no chances, the cyborg fired from his fingers and launched teapot bombs while backing away from the pure white entity. Void Roxas just twisted out of the way to avoid the attacks in a fashion similar to that of a Dusk. When he got close enough, the four whips on his collar shot out and wrapped around the mechanical arms and held them in place. Roxas' arms then blurred as he slashed at the Hatter with his claws. He screamed in pain before trying to retaliate with his cane which was sparking with electricity. The transformed Nobody twisted again, flowing between the Hatter's legs and behind him. The whips pulled hard on his mechanical arms, flipping the tall cyborg onto his back. They then snapped forward and slammed the Hatter just as hard as he had been slammed earlier.

Alice watched in morbid fascination as Roxas brought his palms together pointing towards the Hatter who was struggling to get up from the throw. His hands erupted in a sphere of light which started shooting out these black and white bolts of Nothingness. The bolts twisted through the air as if alive as they homed in on their target. The Hatter was barely able to jump out of the way as the bolts hit causing small explosions of light. Enraged, the Hatter started firing from all his fingers, resulting in a machine-gun like effect. Roxas twisted and turned, moving like a serpent, jumping from clock tower to clock tower with incredible speed and agility until he did something strange, he went over the edge of the platform. The Hatter stopped firing, confused as to what had happened. However, neither he nor Alice had time to ponder it as the whole platform shifted, turning onto its side.

Alice screamed as she dug the Vaporal Blade into the metal structure to keep from slipping into the chrono abyss they were hovering over. She watched as the Hatter grabbed onto the edge of the clock tower that had been on their right when they entered while she fell. However just as she lost her grip, Roxas' four royal blue whips appeared and wrapped around her waist and shoulders. The emerald-eyed girl was stunned as she turned to see Roxas standing on the side of the central clock tower, which because it was no on its side, meant that he was upside down. The whips pulled her out of the way as Roxas created a large sphere of Nothingness in his hands. The Hatter, seeing him ready such a massive attack, held on with one arm and took aim with the other. Seeing what his enemy was about to attempt, the transformed Nobody launched the massive void sphere at the Hatter. The clockwork cyborg fired multiple shots, but they were all engulfed by the Nothingness of the sphere. He screamed in incoherent rage and fear as the attack hit, heavily damaging him and the clock tower to the point of its destruction, knocking both into the swirling chrono abyss.

Alice watch in both satisfaction and sorrow as her once close friend, now twisted into a mockery of himself, fell into the Wonderland embodiment of time. She silently vowed to save him after she had saved Wonderland. The platform shifted back into its original position as Roxas set her down gently before jumping and landing in front of her, standing perfectly still like a soldier waiting for more instructions. She gazed at him, wondering what to do. "Roxas? Is that you?" she asked tentatively.

"Affirmative," he responded simply.

"What happened?" she asked reaching out to his face. She placed her hand on where his cheek would be and felt … nothing. It was cold and perfectly smooth with no distinct texture or feel to it to identify what the material was. There was also no reaction from Roxas himself at the gesture.

Roxas continued to speak in a metallic, monotone voice, showing no emotion at all. "Unit XIII Roxas attempted to transform into Vengeance Form and failed. Due to damage sustained during capture, transformation resulted in Void Form."

Alice frowned as she thought about what she was seeing. Clearly Void Form showed Roxas' true nature as a creature of Nothingness, a Nobody, just as Vengeance had embodied his rage. "So why don't you change back to normal?" she asked concerned as she remembered him changing back almost as soon as the fight had ended against the Red King.

"Negative. Unit XIII Roxas cannot return to standard Form until at least partially repaired. Until restoration, Unit XIII Roxas shall remain in Void Form," he stated.

The dark-haired girl shook her head, not sure what to do at moment. She sighed before speaking. "Okay then, we have two pieces of the Eye Staff and only need one more, the Jabberwock's eye itself. Let's try and find a way out of this asylum and if we can free the Griffon as well heal you back to normal," she said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, again feeling nothing and garnering no reaction.

"Affirmative." Alice sighed again at his response and turned towards the central clock tower. Saying nothing the two made their way up to the control room they had seen the Hatter in. Once there they looked around for any means of leaving this place. As they searched, Alice also searched for any healing items that would restore her friend to normal. While she too was able to transform, she had no idea what prolonged exposure to Void Form would have on Roxas. The last thing she wanted now was for him to be stuck like that. Despite the fact that Void Form was powerful as she had seen, she didn't like the fact that her friend had basically become a machine and his lack of emotion disturbed her. She also noticed that he hadn't used his Keyblades during the fight in the form which also worried her. She was broken out of her musings by her companion's monotone voice. "Object: modified pocket watch. Source: the Mad Hatter. Functions: unknown. Purpose: unknown."

Alice turned to see what he was looking it and found him hold a large pocket watch that seemed to be made out of both bone and metal with a small skull at the center holding the hands to the face. Sensing their curiosity, the Cheshire Cat faded into existence next to them. "Obsessed with time, the Hatter sought to create the ultimate timepiece. This unique watch stops time … for a time. Unlike death, time moves on. Those who stood still with time move on also … unless they're dead." With that he faded away. Alice gave a weary smile at both Cheshire and her recently departed friend.

The two made their way back to the Griffon, oddly encountering no resistance. Apparently without the Hatter, all the defenses shut down. There was a disturbing silence running through the entire compound as all the gears and clockwork mechanisms had simply stopped. It was made even worse by Roxas who had said nothing and moved with absolute silence. First chance she got she would heal him and hopefully restore him to normal. The two entered the room where they had met the Griffon earlier. The large cage separated, freeing the eagle lion. "With gratitude, I offer you my services," he said formally. He looked at the transformed Roxas. "Is that you friend from earlier? What happened to him?" he asked concerned, thinking it was another of the Hatter's experiments. He himself was just lucky the Hatter had never gotten to him, ironically due to time constraints.

"He transformed in order to defeat the Hatter and now he's stuck in this form for the time being. In any case, promise only what you're prepared to deliver. Roxas and I are destined to battle the Red Queen. The outcome is uncertain," she replied gravely.

"You won't fight alone. Permit me to serve as your commander. I'll muster the forces whose allegiance your courage and skill have already won," he offered.

"How will we prepare for battle?" she asked with all seriousness.

The winged beast sighed. "An assault on the Queen depends on breaching the gates to her kingdom. Only the Jabberwock's Eye Staff can pry them open. If you two open the gates, I'll lead the troops to victory. Let us right the wrongs of this world together," he said nobly.

"Affirmative," Roxas said simply, surprising Alice who had forgot he was there for a moment.

Alice shook her head before turning back to the Griffon. "Do you know a place we can rest? We need to be at our best to take on the Jabberwock to get one of his eyes, the final piece of the Staff. We also need to get Roxas back to normal." The Griffon nodded and allowed them both to get on his back. Flying up, he let loose a blast of lightning from his beak at the wall, demolishing it and flying out.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Within the Deep Dive connected to Sora's heart, Namine frowned as she found it to have changed again. The second set of pillars had not only increased their distance from Sora's, but they also gained a third station. This pillar was the same size as the red one and colored black and white. Unlike the other two, this one was complete. In the center was the symbol for Nothingness with XIII on it. Around the outer part of the pillar were portraits of each of the members of Organization XIII as well as Xion; with an inner ring showing their corresponding numbers. Connected to pillar was a Twilight Thorn, bound by thick strips of white cloth extending from the pillar.

The central pillar had also changed. The image of Roxas extended lower to show him holding what was most likely a Keyblade. However, it only showed the handle and guard of it. The handle was a light purple with a four point star on the center of guard. The guard was feathered and looked almost like two wings, one being black with what appeared to be a white Nothingness symbol on it and the other white with a black Heartless symbol. The keychain connected to it was missing, giving no clue as to what it was or its origin.

This whole thing just worried the pale girl as she knew that Sora was recovering, but in odd bursts rather than at a continuous rate. What was truly worrying was that the bursts coincided with the appearance and changing of these pillars. There was also the fact that slowly but surely, more and more of Xion's memories were being fed into the central pillar. She would report this to DiZ and Riku, though reluctantly. Both were very angry with Roxas for what he had done. With him leaving like that, not only would Sora not awaken anytime soon, but if he ever did without Roxas merging with him, then he would be severely weakened and there was no telling what would happen to Sora mentally.

Last but not least was the fact that the further and more complete this Deep Dive became, the harder it was for her to approach it. Her power over memories extended only to those who had a connection with Sora. It these stations were moving out of her power, then that meant that Roxas' connection to Sora was weakening, assuming these stations belonged to Roxas. If the connection between them broke … there was no telling what would happen to either of them. 'I won't let that happen,' the girl thought as she got to work forcing the stations back closer to Sora's.

**Journal Entry Day 368**

**Void Form**

**Abilities: Reversal Evade**

**Special Attacks: Void Sphere, Void Stance**

**Final Move: Twisted World**

This form shows Roxas' true nature as a Greater Nobody. While it is possible for Roxas to voluntarily enter this form, it was also engage automatically as a defense mechanism when he's seriously wounded and or in danger. This form has many advantages as well as disadvantages. For starters, this form has extreme evasion and defense capabilities, with Roxas' body being elastic and able to stretch in many different ways, much like a Dusk or Twilight Thorn Nobody thanks to the Reversal Evade ability. Next is that this form allows the use of Void Spheres as its primary weapon. Void Spheres are orbs of pure Nothingness that react violently with whatever they hit. This ability is transferred to Roxas' normal form and allows him to control and direct these orbs however he likes, though they will not be as potent as they would be in Void Form. He also has a variant of his signature move called Void Stance. It is similar to his normal attack, but since he has no weapons in this state, he instead charges his claws with Nothingness and whips with his elastic arms, allowing him to do the move at a longer range and faster speed. Another interesting ability is that the four strips extending from his collar can act as extra arms and weapons. For a final attack, Void Form has Twisted World. For this attack, Roxas temporarily twists reality in the local area, forcing his target into a position of confusion and helplessness. This could be anything from simply turning the place sideways to completely warping the area. Once warped, he attacks with a single massive Void Sphere, wiping out his target.

However despite these abilities, Void Form has some serious limitations and drawbacks. The first being that while it does have high evasion and defense this form has poor durability and is easily damaged. Another drawback is that Roxas is unable to use magic or his Keyblades in this form, forcing him to rely on hand-to-hand combat and Void Spheres. Another problem with this form is that Nobodies in general don't have emotions; meaning they operate solely on logic. As a result, Roxas loses all emotion, speaking, acting, and thinking much like a machine. While he is able to plan and recognize allies, he cannot react emotionally and has NO emotional attachments in this form. So if it's logical to leave his allies behind to die, he'll do it. The last problem is that if he enters this form due to being heavily injured, he cannot revert from this form until he recovers enough.

**Keyblade: Rejection of Fate**

**Strength: 56 Magic: 1 Defense: 8 Critical %: 4 Bonus: 4**

**Passive Ability: Defender**

**Trigger Ability: Stand Firm**

**Omega Ability: Mirror Wall**

After Roxas' rejection of Oathkeeper and Oblivion, this Keyblade replaced Oathkeeper as one of his primary Keyblades. Rejection of Fate represents Roxas' defiance of his seeming destiny of merging with Sora. Like Oathkeeper, this Keyblade is lightweight and focused on defense, sporting abilities focused on such. The passive ability is Defender. This ability allows Roxas to instinctively guard against any attack. While this is a type of mental manipulation, it is nowhere near the level of Warped Perception and Destiny's Paths caused by Sanity's Edge and thus is no danger to Roxas' mind. This is more a type of enhanced instinct than anything else. The trigger ability for Rejection of Fate is Stand Firm. This ability when activated makes it impossible for Roxas to be knocked down or knocked back by any type of strike or blast provided it doesn't kill him. The omega ability of this blade is a near flawless form of defense, Mirror Wall. This ability is very similar to Reflect magic, but on a much larger scale. While Reflect creates a dome shield for a moment that will merely send back a pulse of energy if attacked, Mirror Wall creates a barrier of crystallized Light, Darkness, and Nothingness. Any force or attack directed at this barrier will be absorbed, redirected, and reflected back to it source mixed with Light, Darkness, and Nothingness, causing a powerful backlash to whoever or whatever is caught in it. Mirror Wall can cause serious damage to those who try to break it.

Despite Rejection of Fate's powerful defense capabilities, it is not perfect. The Stand Firm ability, while useful, does not negate any damage Roxas may take from an attack. It only makes it so that he can't be knocked down, back, or out. Basically, with this ability activated, he can't be struck down by any attack he can block. The Mirror Wall ability, while an awesome defense, has severe limitations. The first is that the wielder has to be stationary to use it. They cannot move while Mirror Wall is in effect. Another drawback of the omega ability is that it takes intense concentration and will to maintain for long periods. The strain is made even worse the larger the area covered by Mirror Wall. As a result, Mirror Wall is best used for short durations in as small an area as possible. Still, Rejection of Fate greatly enhances the defense capabilities of anyone who can properly use it.

**Keyblade: Two Become One**

**Strength: 113 Magic: 34 Defense: 4 Critical %: 14 Bonus: 21**

**Passive Ability: Twilight Edge**

**Trigger Ability: Aura Blade**

**Omega Ability: Chaos Blades**

After Roxas' rejection of Oathkeeper and Oblivion, this Keyblade replaced Oblivion as one of his primary Keyblades. Two Become One represents Roxas' connection with Xion as well as having no real allegiance to good or evil. Like Oblivion, this Keyblade is focused on offence, sporting abilities focused on such. The passive ability is Twilight Edge. This ability coats the entire edge of the black with Light, Darkness, and Nothingness and runs it across the edge like an electric current. This makes the blade especially lethal and gives it an unearthly degree of sharpness which allows it to cut through almost anything. The trigger ability is Aura Blade. This ability is almost an extension of its passive ability. When triggered, Aura Blade causes an aura of mixed Light, Darkness, and Nothingness to envelope the Keyblade. Unlike similar techniques, the aura's shape is fluid rather than solid, allowing it to shift based on the user's will. The omega ability for Two Become One is Chaos Blades. This ability causes the energy around the blade to flare up dangerously and be directed in a massive attack. The attack is a massive wave of Light blades, Darkness streaks, and Nothingness bolts, capable of wiping out entire battalions of enemies.

As with any Keyblade, this one too has its drawbacks. The Aura Blade ability, while versatile, is also limited in what it can do. The mix of the three prime elements is naturally unstable and thus isn't very good with precise or delicate maneuvers. The omega ability also has its flaws. The first problem being that while it is very powerful, it is also extremely hard to direct and aim and should be best used in wide open areas. Another is that if it isn't properly controlled, the user may receive serious some backlash from the attack. Finally, those who try to use this Keyblade and don't have a good connection with all three could result in the user being corrupted by Keyblade's attempt to correct this. As a result of this, Roxas is one of the few who can use this weapon without worry of this side effect. Care should taken in wielding Two Become One and its powers over Light, Darkness, Nothingness.

AN: Thought I'd define Roxas' two new primary Keyblades. I'll be bringing back a few other Keyblades from 358/2 and giving them unique passive, trigger, and omega abilities. The Mirror Wall ability I got from Yugioh from a card of the same name. The Chaos Blades ability is basically a modified version of the Wind Scar attack from Inuyasha. For those wondering why Roxas hasn't used some of the trigger or omega abilities, it's simply because he hasn't discovered or learned to use them yet, but he will, trust me. Coming soon … Alice and Roxas go after the Jabberwock to complete the staff. This will be interesting.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 07: Day 369: Twas Brillig

The Griffon flew with his two passengers, heading back to the crossroads where they had originally entered the Pale Realm. He soon landed at the magma fountain, Alice and Roxas getting off. "Recruit whatever allies you can you two. We'll need them all. I'll return with reinforcements from the White Royals. You two head to the Oracle's cave, you should be able to rest there and hopefully restore your friend. Take heart, I'll be back soon," he said to them. Alice nodded while Roxas just stood unmoving, still stuck in his Void Form. Once the Griffon was out of sight, the two made their way back to the cave of the Oracle. While they encountered a few fire imps, they were quickly taken care out due to Alice's Ice Wand and Roxas' claws.

Eventually, the two arrived at the cave with the Oracle. As soon as they approached, the low voice of the Oracle echoed out. "The time for action has arrived. You should not waste a day. No lame excuses do you contrive, nor tolerate delay," it said ominously.

Alice frowned deeply as the Cheshire Cat appeared next to her and Roxas. "It talks like we're on holiday, Cat. Wandering about, having a bit of fun. We also need to rest and restore Roxas to normal. The Oracle's an idiot," she snarled.

The Cheshire Cat seemed to snarl as well despite his permanent smile. "Confront what frightens or offends you. Reckless or insulting talk should never go unchallenged,"

"Affirmative," Roxas said robotically before moving forward, twisting and turning like a Dusk up to the entrance of the cave. He then used the four collar bands to move the rocks out of the way to reveal who or what the Oracle really was. "Subject: Caterpillar. Alias: The Oracle. Classification: Neutral entity. Threat level zero. Question."

Alice was surprised. "You bizarre creature? I was beginning to like you," she said in an offended tone.

The giant, fez-wearing insect just snorted. "Like me or don't. But believe me, the Jabberwock must be eliminated. Now blow open the gates and confront the queen."

Roxas backed away before speaking. "Negative. Jabberwock Eye Staff is incomplete. Component missing is Jabberwock Eye. Please input possible strategy," the greater Nobody asked.

The caterpillar took another puff on his hookah. "I don't know, but you two must do so soon, the situation is urgent."

The emerald-eyed girl snarled now. "What good are you to us? We're supposed to attack this ferocious creature, but Roxas is stuck in this … Void Form was it? Besides, I'm not even sure this is our fight."

The insect sighed, "It's no one else's. Only you and Roxas can yourselves and each other." The solemn tone in his voice was obvious.

The girl raised an eye-brow in question. "Save ourselves? From death, is that it? Is that why we've been brought here? I'm not afraid to die, times I've welcomed death," she said sadly, more to herself than to those around her.

The transformed Nobody just nodded, "Affirmative."

Caterpillar shook his head. "Not death."

Alice's rage' spiked again. "What then? A fate worse than death? I'm not stupid, don't make me think you are!" she accused.

The insect just snorted and frowned. "Think what you will. But know this, you withdrew from you world after the fire because you could not bear your terrible loss. Roxas did the same when he learned of his past and relation to Sora. When you answered Rabbit's call and Roxas created a Chaos Corridor, you both began to emerge from your respective tragedies. Stay on this path you two, save yourselves and you will save Wonderland. You will restore us all."

Alice looked down, now more solemn and thoughtful. "What I've been feeling, I am beginning to understand. I broke this world initially and when Roxas entered it, his past caused it to fracture even more. Now only we can repair it." Caterpillar nodded in agreement before turning to Roxas who had remained silent. From behind him he brought forth a large crystal of Meta-essence. He tossed it to Roxas who immediately caught it and looked at it curiously. A moment later the large crystal was absorbed into the Nobody, causing a reaction.

Energy wrapped around him and in a moment flashed away, revealing a fully restored Roxas. He dropped to his knees as Alice ran over to help him. "That … was weird," he said as he stood up slowly. He looked down at his hands, flexing them in thought as he spoke. "I was in full control, but I couldn't feel anything. No pain, no rage, no concern, no happiness, no sadness, just … nothing," he spoke more to himself then to the older girl next to him.

The emerald eyed girl just gave him a comforting hug; trying to reassure him, though she had no idea what that would've been like. She herself had been on the opposite end of the spectrum, her emotions flying every which way out of her control with no logic or reason to help her. Her time in the asylum had not been pleasant. "You going to be okay?" she asked, voicing the same question he had asked her a short time ago.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Come on, we need to get to the Jabberwock," he said as he stood up.

The Caterpillar also nodded. "With Griffon as your ally you have reason to hope for success. He's the strongest among us," he said before taking a long drag on his hookah. The insect then let out a massive cloud of smoke, disappearing again.

Roxas shook his head. "I really want to know how he does that," he said with small smile as the two started on their way to the lair of the Jabberwock.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Far away from Alice and Roxas in the World that Never Was, Organization XIII was having a meeting in the Place Where Nothingness Gathers. It had been five days since Axel's encounter with Roxas in the old mansion. Since then, Xigbar, Xaldin, Demyx, Luxord, and Axel had all returned to the mansion to find any trace or Roxas or possibly Sora. All they found were the remains of a base as the false Twilight Town abandoned. Apparently, whoever had been there had decided to leave before they got there. They had searched the mansion for days but had found few real leads on what had happened to Roxas. They were gathering now to discuss their findings. The first to speak was number I, the Superior, Xenmas. "So what have you found in you investigation?" he asked in his usual calm tone.

Xaldin spoke first. "There are some remains of a base, but it has been thoroughly cleaned out. We did find one computer but it was heavily damaged. It seemed that whoever attacked it did so out of rage more than anything as the damage was not made by precise strikes. None of the data on it could be retrieved," he said in his formal tone.

Xenmas nodded. "I see. Any signs of our wayward Keyblade wielder or the Keyblade master?" he asked calmly, again showing no true emotion.

Demyx spoke up this time. "We found nothing. The kid and Roxas may have been there, but not anymore. We also found this white room full of pictures of us, more of Roxas, Axel, and some black-haired girl in one of our coats than anyone else though," the sitar player explained.

Luxord nodded. "Indeed. Whatever player had been there decided to cut his looses and wait for better odds and apparently took Namine with them," he spoke calmly. "However, we did find one strange trace of energy deep within the mansion. There was a trace of a portal there, similar to our Corridors of Darkness but of a far different type."

Saix's voice broke in at this point. "Sire, given the evidence we've found and what we haven't found. I'd say there are two possibilities here. Either the merge with Roxas did not awaken Sora or they never merged in the first place. Given the unusual energy signature residue found in the lower levels, it is more likely Roxas escaped somehow before merging with Sora."

Once again Xenmas nodded. "Indeed. Since we cannot complete Kingdom Hearts without a Keyblade bearer, we will search all known worlds for Roxas and Sora. Also, keep a look out for the imposter. He may also have a part to play in all of this." They all nodded and disappeared in flashes of darkness, Axel and Saix being the last ones to leave.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

They had finally reached the center of the fiery wasteland. All around them was a molten landscape, the oppressive heat being the least of their problems. On their way to meet the beast they had encountered lava snarks, nasty fish that in the molten streams that had attempted to drag them in, and jabberspawn, smaller misshapen clones of the Jabberwock. Add to that climbing on hot rock to get here, Alice and Roxas were already a little worn. What made it all worse was the Jabberwock's actual "lair". It was two large, semi-burned down buildings that seemed to have either collapsed on each other or had been fused in some weird fashion. The larger of the two buildings both had seen before though only Roxas truly knew what it was. It was the train station clock tower from Twilight Town, burned down and torn apart. The other, smaller of the two looked like a large cottage, Victorian style, the kind a family would live in. While Roxas had never seen it, he could guess what this was. It was Alice's home, the one that had gone down in a fire, killing her family, burning her alive, and shattering her sanity and subsequently Wonderland itself.

Roxas pulled up his hood and summoned Two Become One and Refection of Fate. He turned to his companion, his voice low and quiet. "You ready for this?" he knowing that if the Jabberwock was anywhere near as powerful as it had been implied this whole time, then they were in for a rough fight.

Alice brought out her Vorpal Blade, gazing into its reflective surface, her emerald eyes darkening for a moment before turning to her companion. "I'm ready." With that, the two entered the Jabberwock's lair.

The inside of the structure, using the term as loosely as possible, was even worse than the outside. All around it looked like the place had been engulfed in an inferno with some parts of it still burning. Creepy thing was that the fire that was still blazing didn't seem to eat away at the place, almost as if it was now part of the structure. Shadows moved all around them as if alive, unfettered by the supposed light of the fires. The two of them stood past the entrance of the clock tower, where the trains would normally be stationed. While the trains were there, they were totaled, ripped apart by what appeared to be claws … very large claws. On the side with the tunnels was a large hole that connected the tower to the cottage. Inside was what looked like the remains of a living room, complete with tables, chairs, and a piano, or at least the charred remains of these things. It was hard to look at the place.

It was after a moment that the two felt it. A presence, dark, twisted, corrupting, like nothing either had felt before. It forced all their worst memories to come to forefront. For Alice, she was in her home as the fire raged, the flames licking at her flash as she screamed for her parents. Roxas saw the form of Xion in front of him, mutated by the unwanted memories from Sora and twisted by the words of Riku. One saw her family die in blazing death, the other saw his family fragments in crystal death. The two started to breathe hard as they looked up and saw them … the eyes of flame.

With a low growl and resounding footsteps, the Jabberwock appeared. The creature was easily as big as a Darkside Heartless and more twisted than anything else. It stood on two saurian legs and had a large central body that looked like a furnace of some kind with gears and cogs showing in place its guts. The things arms were long and thin, looking like the arms of a skeleton with two long fingers and two shorter fingers for its hands. The tail looked like a mix of metal and bone, covered in strange marks. Out of the creature's back were two massive clockwork wings that also sported claws of their own with pipes sticking out between them blowing out black smoke. On a long, serpentine neck rested a head that looked like an elongated skull with four large, sharp fangs in the front along with two antennae on the top of its head. Within that skull sat two burning eyes, eyes that blazed in such a way that all the fire around them paled in comparison. The Jabberwock stared at them in a manner they knew was condescending and full of hatred. This was confirmed when the thing spoke, his voice low and demonic. "You have kept me waiting Alice and Roxas. Have you never heard that punctuality is a virtue?" he said arrogantly.

Roxas readied his Keyblades. "And I thought Vexen was arrogant," he commented lightly, or at least tried to.

The Jabberwock seemed to ignore his comment as he continued. "You're both habitually late aren't you? Between your dim-witted daydreaming and self-delusions of existence the hours just fly by. There's barely time for anything else."

Alice just snorted at the massive creature. "That the best you can do? Hurl second-rate insults? They don't hurt," she said with confidence she didn't have.

Again, the twisted creature seemed to ignore the words and continued. "Your family and Xion were expecting each of you to come to them weren't they? Perhaps they thought you might warn them of the danger … being close to the sources as you each were. But they waited in vain, didn't they, and all died for their trouble."

Both of them spoke at the same time in reaction, knowing what the creature was referring to.

Alice: "We were all asleep! It was an accident … I…"

Roxas: "I tried to save her! Riku convinced her … it wasn't …"

Now the Jabberwock's tone turned hateful and angry as his words no cut right to their cores. "You selfish, misbegotten, and unnatural children! You smelled the smoke, but you were in dreamland taking tea with your friends! You knew something was wrong but cared only for your own lack of answers! Neither of you couldn't be bothered! You both were protected and spared … while your families died in an inferno of incredible horror and twisted manipulation!" he accused, putting as much force as possible behind his words.

Sorrow broke through Alice's face while rage broke through Roxas'. "SHUT UP!" he screamed as he leaped right at the Jabberwock, only to get swatted by the creature's claw and slammed into what remained of one of the trains. That seemed to snap Alice out of it as she also attacked, launching her Jacks at the beast in order to get its attention away from Roxas. She got it when he turned to her and started to breathe fire at her. Though she attempted to counter by making a wall of ice with the Ice Wand, it wouldn't hold long against the hellfire of the Jabberwock.

Roxas got up shakily, cursing himself for losing his temper. He gripped his Keyblades, his will flaring as he focused on the twisted creature attacking his friend, unconsciously triggering their abilities. He dashed forward, Two Become One flaring with a chaotic energy aura, and slashed with it. The aura instantly extended like a whip and struck the Jabberwock's face, ending his fire attack on Alice. The creature roared in rage and pain and reared one of its arms back to knock the Nobody off the top of the ruined train. Roxas saw it coming and blocked with his Keyblades, Rejection of Fate glowing as he did so.

To everyone's surprise, Roxas did not get swatted away again. Instead for the Jabberwock it was like hitting a solid metal statue welded to the ground, completely immovable despite the force directed behind the strike and thus causing the creature more pain. The Jabberwock moved, this time to straight up punch Roxas off the train. Seeing it coming, the black-coated boy jumped at the last second, landing on the Jabberwock's arm and it smashed through the metal with ease. He ran up the arm and slashed at the beast's eyes, knowing that they needed one of them to achieve victory.

The Jabberwock roared, whipping his head to follow Roxas as beams of twisted purple light shot out of his eyes, cutting through anything they hit. Alice moved quickly, launching her Jacks once again to swarm the creature while readying her cards. While she knew they couldn't do any significant damage, aimed at the right spots they could slow the freakish thing down. She ran to the side as the Jabberwock continued to follow Roxas and started to launch cards at his joints and exposed gears. They had the intended effect of cutting into and jamming them, unfortunately gaining the creature's attention. He shook with rage and reared up, readying a massive blast of hellfire as the furnace in his chest glowed ominously.

Before he could release the blast, Roxas jumped onto his back and dug both Keyblades into his neck and pulled, forcing the blast higher than intended. The Jabberwock raged and thrashed, trying to get the boy off of him. Roxas held on, shifting this way and that to avoid its claws and to stay on. "ALICE! GO FOR THE EYE!" he screamed out.

The dark-haired girl's face took on a look of hardened resolve as she dashed forward, the Vorpal Blade shining her hand. The nightmarish beast saw her coming and attempted to swipe at her only to have Roxas pull hard on his Keyblades, tearing into his neck and forcing him to miss. Alice jumped up and landed on the Jabberwock's head above Roxas and immediately drove her blade into the edge of the creature's eye socket. The thrashing became desperate now as the Jabberwock knew that if they gained one of his eyes they would then have the means to kill both him and eventually the Red Queen.

Alice held on for everything she had as she wretched the blade even deeper into the socket. With a cry of rage she ripped the eye out, resulting in a fountain of black and red blood to pour from where it had been. The two jumped off and headed to where the eye had landed while the Jabberwock staggered back in pain and fury. Once again he built up a blast of hellfire to consume the both of them. Roxas stood in front of Alice and brandished Rejection of Fate, which now blazed with energy. Just as the Jabberwock unleashed a beam of hellfire a massive wall of black, gray, and white crystal appeared in front of Alice and Roxas. The attack hit the Mirror Wall and seemed to be absorbed for a split second before being fired back at the Jabberwock. He screamed as he was hit by his own attack and driven through the wall of the building.

The wall disappeared to show Roxas holding Two Become One which was now blazing brightly. The Jabberwock's one remaining eye widened as Roxas swung the Keyblade, unleashing a massive wave of Chaos Blades. He let out a nightmarish howl as the attack struck him and knocked him off the cliff and into the burning darkness.

The two waited in a tense silence before finally relaxing. The auras around Roxas' Keyblades faded as Alice brought out the Eye Staff. She pointed the clawed end at the eye, which then opened up. Vine-like tentacles shot out of its palm and attached themselves to eye where the nerve endings would be. The vines retracted and pulled it into the claw which closed around the eye. With a violent spark the eye started to glow, as if alive once again. The Jabberwock Eye Staff was now complete. Alice gave Roxas a weary smile which he returned as the two left the burned structure.

Once outside they heard the flapping of wings. They looked up, at fire thinking the Jabberwock had come for round two, only to relax at seeing the Griffon. "Hurry you two. The Eye Staff is yours, the troops are gathered, and everything is ready. I'll deal with the Jabberwock. You two are our champions. Lead us to victory in Queensland!" he called to them. They nodded as they climbed on his back, riding onward to the final assault on the Red Queen's realm and eventually on the Queen herself.

**Journal Entry Day 369**

**The Jabberwock**

The simplest way to describe the Jabberwock is a nightmare mixed with a person's own torment made real. No heartless or creature I have encountered to date is as terrifying as this thing. Its mere presence causes anyone in the area to vividly remember their worst memories of guilt and failure. Even worse is that despite being a monster, this thing is smart and knows how to get inside your head. Alice and I have survived one encounter with this thing only due to me discovering more about my Keyblades and the fact that it couldn't fly in the area we were in. I only hope we do so well in the next encounter.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 08: Day 370: Long Time the Manxome Foe They Sought

The two stood before the gates to the Red Realm with the white army behind them, though "gates" would be stretching the term. What was actually in front of them was a massive wall of twisted, violet energy that seemed almost alive. It pulsed with what appeared to be the lost souls of those who had wandered into Wonderland and had not left alive … or dead for that matter. Alice pulled out the Eye Staff, feeling it pulse in her hands. She had no idea what this thing was fully capable of, but she was about to find out. The emerald-eyed girl pointed the staff at the barrier, Roxas standing next to her and watching intently and she concentrated her energy into the weapon. The eye being held in the claw started to glow and collect energy before unleashing a twisted beam of dark purple energy. The beam hit the barrier and cut through it as easily as her Vorpal Blade would cut through flesh. The souls in the barrier let out twisted screams, whether in pain or in freedom, none there could tell.

Like flesh, the barrier tore open, bleeding twisted energy as it did. Roxas summoned his Keyblades and turned to his companion. "You ready to enter hell?" he asked simply.

Alice gripped the Jabberwock Eye staff tighter as she nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be." With that, the two charged forward, followed by the thunderous sound of the White army charging behind them.

They entered the hedge maze, though maze was a massive understatement for what lay before them. All around them were stone paths lined with steel pillars marked with clubs, diamonds, or spades. There were no heart symbols this close to the gate but they both knew there would be later. The hedges were frighteningly tall and made out of what appeared to be rose bushes. The only disturbing thing was that the roses on the bushes were actually white and only appeared red due to being painted that way … in blood. They charged in, Roxas slashing his way through the numerous card guards as Alice wielded the Eye Staff, taking out any Boojums, phantasmagorias, and jabber spawn.

The deeper into the maze the army went, the more enemies they encountered on the way. Further and further they pressed into Queensland, using any path they could find. This forced them to go into the sewer system of the Red Queen's castle. It bore a similarity to the Mad Hatter's realm with the number of gears and steam vents. More than once they had to use those vents to reach deeper into the fortress. Roxas used his glide ability while Alice's dress allowed her to catch the drafts. Eventually they came to what appeared to be the inside of a massive clock. As they gazed up the shaft, the Cheshire Cat appeared to add his two cents in as usual. "Time to jump in time to jump through time … I'm dizzy," he commented before fading away.

"Jump through time …" Roxas mumbled to himself as the two made their way up the shaft. With his body on autopilot, the greater Nobody's mind drifted to when he first arrived in Wonderland and the Chaos Corridor that brought him. While the Dark Corridors were able to twist space, did the Chaos Corridors twist more than that? Did they twist time as well? It was possible and it would explain how he ended up in another Wonderland with another Cheshire Cat and Red Queen. However, Roxas didn't believe that was the case. This Wonderland was too different from the one he had seen before and even if there was some relation, there were little to no traces of the first Wonderland in this one. No, this Wonderland was a completely separate from the first one he had visited with Luxord. Not even time could turn that bright, sappy place into a twisted realm like this.

There was also the question of how much time he truly had. As long as Riku, DiZ, the Organization, Xenmas, and especially Sora existed, Roxas was living on borrowed time. All of them would use him for their own ends, either to collect hearts or to force him to merge with Sora; neither of which was very appealing to him.

'There has to be a way,' he thought as he and Alice jumped from gear to gear. There had to be a way for a Nobody to be complete without Kingdom Hearts or merging back with their Somebody. Many would think that was impossible and yet most would think that once you become a Heartless that there was no way to return to normal. Sora had disproved that idea by regaining his form shortly after becoming a Heartless. If that proved anything, it proved that there were no guarantees when it came to Heartless, Nobodies, souls, or hearts. 'I'll turn this universe and any other upside down to find an answer,' he thought as they made their way deeper.

Alice was also deep in thought as they made their way through the bowels of the Red Queen's realm. Her thoughts turned to what the future would bring. If they failed, she had no delusions that she would come out of this the same as when she started. No, more than likely she would lose herself completely to madness, never to recover and to damn Wonderland completely to the nightmarish state it was currently in. There was also no telling what would happen to Roxas if they lost. While she was being displaced between both Wonderland and the Asylum, Roxas was not … at least it didn't appear so. In either case, he was not a natural part of Wonderland and had been instead integrated into it. If they lost this fight he would more than likely suffer just as much as her.

But what if they won? What would happen then, to her, Roxas, or Wonderland? Even if they won there was no guarantee that Wonderland or her sanity would be restored. What would Roxas do then? Alice doubted he would remain here due to his own obligations with Kingdom Hearts and the promise he made to Xion. The emerald-eyed girl honestly couldn't fault him for that. If she were in his position she would do the same. Still she didn't want to lose one of the few true friends she still had. At the moment, she wasn't sure which was scarier, the upcoming battle or the aftermath.

Finally, the two made it to the inner area of the Red Queen's realm. Just beyond were her keep and the Queen herself. However there were a few things in their way. The first was a massive moat of magma, second was all the guards in the fortress, and third and most immediate … the Jabberwock. Even at this distance they could feel the aura of the creature affecting them, forcing some of their worst memories to resurface again.

The Jabberwock itself was just standing there, patiently waiting for them. As they approached, Griffon landed next to them. None of them said anything before the lion-bird took to the skies followed by his twisted opponent. High above the two dueled in aerial combat as Roxas and Alice watched helplessly. The two powerful creatures traded blows, the Jabberwock unleashing blasts of hellfire while the Griffon countered with lightning from his beak. The duel was vicious and fierce, with neither giving an inch as the two below watched helplessly. Finally, the Jabberwock decided that he had had enough of this and let loose a massive torrent of hellfire that the Griffon couldn't dodge.

Alice and Roxas watched in horror as their ally dropped to the ground, badly burnt and bloody, with a sickening crack. The two ran to their comrade as the Jabberwock landed gazing at them with one fiery eye full of hate. "How typical … how foolish to think that you two could overcome your guilt!" he snarled at them before proceeding to attack.

The two dove out of the way of his lunge. The nightmarish beast seemed to ignore the Griffon as he continued to go after them, first targeting Alice for what she did to his eye as well as wielding the staff that bore his name. Roxas quickly cast Curaga on the Griffon, creating a field of healing green energy around the lion-bird before dashing in a flash of light towards the Jabberwock.

The girl's emerald eyes blazed as she brandished the Eye Staff against its namesake, determined to put this creature out of her misery. A twisted purple beam struck the Jabberwock, piercing his twisted hide and causing real damage. Roaring in pain, the twisted creature took to the air to avoid the deadly weapon. Alice sent her Jacks while Roxas launched various magic attacks and void spheres to also bring down the creature. Unfortunately the Jabberwock, despite his size and mutilated form, was quite agile in the air and kept avoid most of the attacks and received little damage. He then went on the offensive, diving at them and spewing a massive torrent of hellfire.

Roxas scowled to himself. As long as that thing kept to the air, most of their strongest attacks would be useless. He also knew that despite its power, Alice would only use the Eye Staff for so long before running out of will to use it. Any magic attacks from him would simply be dodged. This was just like when he fought the Ruler of the Sky in Neverland, only in this case he couldn't fly so his opponent had the advantage. His rage burned within as he concentrated on his Keyblades, bringing them together. 'I will not fail here! Alice is counting on me. Wonderland is counting on us! I will not break my promise!' he thought wildly as both his Keyblades transformed once more.

The new Keyblade in his right hand had a pale green handle with a burning red guard. Each side of the guard sported two spikes that pointed diagonally downward creating a comet-like shape. The shaft of the Keyblade had concave edges that ended in a point connected to an X-like Nobody symbol, much like Roxas' charm. The shaft was a fiery red orange at its base that gradually lightened in color further up on the blade to a gold color. The Nobody symbol connected to the teeth of the Keyblade which were formed by a black, circular arc lined with spikes. The keychain token was a black disk lined with spikes, much like the teeth of the weapon itself. The entire Keyblade shimmered as if on fire, giving out immense heat that Roxas didn't even seem to notice. This was one of his more powerful Keyblades, one of piercing fire and wild light. This was Twilight Blaze.

In his left hand he now held another familiar Keyblade, only this one was the opposite of what he held in is right. This Keyblade had a black handle and a rectangular, violet guard that became pale, starlight color toward its bottom with thin, black edges. The guard has two small, rectangular spikes on each of its upper corners. The bottom of the guard was completely white, and did not have any black edges. The shaft of the Keyblade was wide, silver, and had concave, black edges. The tip of the weapon was flat and the teeth are comprised by three short, flat-tipped spikes on one side of the blade, making look more like a traditional key. There was a black diamond at the base of the blade with a thin, vertical line of the same color lining the entire blade. The Keychain token is somewhat similar to the handle and the bottom of the guard, as it is a violet semi-circle with a white spike in its center. Unlike the other Keyblade, which seemed to give off heat, this one seemed to drain away light. The area around the weapon seemed covered in shadows, though the Keyblade itself was clearly visible. This was another powerful Keyblade, one of hidden light and concealing shadow. This was Lunar Eclipse.

When Roxas' Keyblades had finished their transformations, a beam a white light shot straight up, catching the attention of the Jabberwock. The beast's one remaining eye widened as he knew what attack this was. He turned to look at the sky and banked to the right, just barely being missed by the massive beam of light crashing down. More pillars of light pierced the sky around the Jabberwock as he tried to dodge them all. However, as nimble as he was in the air, even he couldn't dodge attacks this massive and quick.

One of the light pillars struck his wing, causing him to crash down to the burning landscape below. With a roar of both pain and rage, the Jabberwock got to his feet to destroy the two once and for all. Roxas brandished both of his newly regained Keyblades, activating the Trigger ability of Lunar Eclipse, Shadow Dance. The greater Nobody dashed forward as three ghostly afterimages followed. The beast tried to swipe at Roxas only for him to dodge. His attack had no effect on the after images. Roxas jumped and slashed at the Jabberwock's remaining wing and then dashing around the beast, slashing at any part of him that was exposed. The afterimages created by his Keyblade followed his actions and attacked as he did, causing more damage to the beast.

While Roxas kept their enemy busy, Alice powered up the Eye Staff to full power this time. She would wipe out the Jabberwock and the main manifestation of her and Roxas' guilt once and for all.

The creature swiped and snapped at his black cloaked adversary, trying to stop his attacks and the attacks of the afterimages. However, he then noticed Alice charging the Eye Staff. "NO! You will never escape your guilt! You will fail just like all the others before you!" he roared as he turned to crush the girl before she completed charging. Roxas saw the attack and leapt in front of Alice, Twilight Blaze instantly shifting to Rejection of Fate to block the oncoming strike. However … it never hit.

All three combatants were surprised to see something, more accurately several things, holding back the Jabberwock's attack. They looked to see long, white ribbons wrapped around the beast's claw. The ribbons led back to a white being standing braced, obviously holding the attack back. The being stood about Roxas' height, colored off white and black. It stood on two legs with off white on the inside of them and its torso and black on the outside. Its arms, assuming it had them, were bound like a resident of an asylum's would be. It head had no face and was instead covered by a helmet with an edge facing forward, giving it a blade like shape. On its chest where its arms were supposedly bound was the Nobody symbol outlined in black.

While the Jabberwock had no clue what this insolent little thing was, Roxas and Alice did. It was a lesser Nobody, but of a type that Roxas had never seen before. 'Where did that come from? I thought I was the only Nobody in Wonderland?' he thought before turning his attention back to the Jabberwock. The creature tried to strike at them with his other claw only to have another set of ribbons wrap around it and hold it back by another lesser Nobody, the same new type as the first. Before any of them knew it, a dozen of these new Nobodies appeared and began to tie down the embodiment of guilt. Deciding to fight now and ask later, Roxas turned to his emerald-eyed companion. "Alice! Do it now!" The girl nodded and released her attack. A bolt of twisted energy shot high up into the air before breaking apart into a rain of deadly energy. The Jabberwock twisted and roared but was unable to escape as the energy from the Eye Staff ripped him apart, ending his reign of terror.

Everything was silent for a moment after the attack ended. There was no movement from anyone. Once the moment passed, the Nobodies retracted their ribbons as Roxas cautiously walked forward to inspect both them and the remains of the Jabberwock. Behind him he could hear Alice muttering to herself. "Oh frabjous day… callooh … callay," she said as she chortled to herself. Roxas decided to ignore it for the time being.

There truly wasn't much of the Jabberwock after the attack Alice made with the Eye Staff. The Cheshire Cat hadn't been kidding when he said it was incomparably powerful. Looking over, he saw the Griffon slowly getting up, having been healed during the fight thanks to his Curaga spell. The eagle-lion trotted over, inspecting the remains himself. "You've destroyed her guardian Roxas, Alice. Time to enter the ultimate battle," he said with a small bit of difficultly as he was still recovering.

Alice came forward, a little exhausted from using the Eye Staff at full power. "Must we fight on? Can't the Red Queen be persuaded to surrender?" she asked with a sad hopefulness. Roxas honestly couldn't blame her; this whole fight was dragging on his reserves as well.

The Griffon sighed. "True words and logic rarely defeat evil intent. She is still strong and so many have been harmed. They want revenge, which we call justice. She made this world, and she must pay. You must lead our forces against her," he instructed.

Roxas and Alice looked at each other in dismay. While the Griffon was still alive, he was in no condition to lead an invasion into a fortress. "We don't know anything about leading," the Keyblade wielder said shaking his head.

The Griffon seemed to smile sadly at the two, which was interesting considering he had a beak. "Just do your best you two. You can only do your best. You can always do your best." He then turned to the dozen or so Nobodies who were all standing together perfectly still, as if waiting instructions. "Who … or what are these?" he asked cautiously.

"They're … Nobodies," Roxas said quietly. He approached them, gaining no reaction. "What are you? Where did you come from and why have you appeared," he asked them directly.

He got a response, just like when the Dusks "talked" to him. It wasn't speech, more like a type of telepathy mixed with an instinctual understanding. _We are Inmates, the lost souls of those who have tried to survive or save Wonderland. Many of us fell to darkness due to the Jabberwock and were encased in the barrier surrounding Queensland. With your introduction into Wonderland and the destruction of the barrier, we were given a chance to reform. We are at your command my liege._ Roxas nodded at the explanation and gave them a wave of his hand. They understood the command and faded away back into nothingness waiting to be called again by their new master.

Roxas then turned to Alice, saying nothing, and then turned to the massive castle and the Red Queen who waited inside. Alice understood. It was time to take on the source of Wonderland's corruption. "Off with her head."

**Journal Entry Day 370: **

**Lesser Nobody: Inmates**

Like all Nobodies, these are the souls and shells left behind when people have been consumed by darkness, in this case specifically the souls of those in Wonderland who fell during the Red Queen's reign. Many of those souls were trapped in the barrier surrounding her inner Queendom. Once released by Alice and Roxas, the souls were able to draw on the power of Nothingness to form due to Roxas entrance into the realm. Inmates are very agile and use the ribbons connected to their collars to attack and capture their targets. The ribbons can extend to extreme lengths and can be used as razor-sharp whips. While Inmates are agile and quick, they can only take limited damage before dispersing. Thus they tend to attack in groups in order to subdue targets. Approach with caution.

**Keyblade: Twilight Blaze**

**Strength: 113 Magic: 1 Defense: 4 Critical %: 18 Bonus: 15**

**Passive Ability: Heat Aura**

**Trigger Ability: Blaze Ignition**

**Omega Ability: Solar Strike**

A powerful light based Keyblade, Twilight Blaze is a weapon focusing on fire and heat based attacks and its abilities reflect this nature. The passive ability is Heat Aura. This ability grants the user high resistance to both heat and cold, lessening the effectiveness of both fire and ice attacks. This ability has a slight side effect of making the area around the user blur like a mirage in the desert. The trigger ability is Blaze Ignition. Blaze Ignition causes the weapon to be wrapped in searing plasma-like fire allowing it to burn through almost anything. This ability also enhances any fire attacks and fire based abilities. The Omega ability of Twilight Blaze is the Solar Strike. This ability allows the user to call down the power of a literal solar flare down on a target area, incinerating everything within a wide radius.

This Keyblade does however carry some serious risks. The first one being that while the weapon does protect against heat it can't protect the user from Blaze Ignition. The user does run a serious risk of burning themselves if they aren't careful. The Omega ability, while powerful, can and should only be used in certain situations. The Solar Strike can only be used in areas that have a sun that the user can see, meaning it can't be used indoors or at night. Another problem is that the Solar Strike has a massive area of damage, making it impractical for close combat situations. The user needs to be well aware of splash damage when using the Omega ability of Twilight Blaze. Still, in the right hands, this weapon is truly awesome.

**Keyblade: Lunar Eclipse**

**Strength: 98 Magic: 37 Defense: 6 Critical %: 11 Bonus: 14**

**Passive Ability: Shade Walk**

**Trigger Ability: Shadow Dance**

**Omega Ability: Living Eclipse**

While Twilight Blaze is based on light, Lunar Eclipse is based on darkness. Its shape lends it to be used more like a hammer than a sword, but is still a useful weapon. It's passive ability, Shade Walk, cloaks the user is a field of distorting shadows. These shadows automatically "blur" the user from enemies, making it impossible for them to lock onto them. While the user is still visible, their image is blurred, making it difficult for enemies to distinguish exact details. The second ability, Shadow Dance, creates afterimages out of dark energy that follow the user's actions. The afterimages can touch and interact with things, but things can't affect them. They have to initiate the contact. They also can't be physically attacked or harmed by most types of energy. However the afterimages can be dispersed by focused beams of light. The Omega ability is Living Eclipse. This ability causes the user's shadow to take on a massive three dimensional form made out of darkness. Like the afterimages, it can manipulate things but things can't manipulate it. Its power increases dramatically with more shadows or in darkness. The transformed shadow can shape shift and attack in various ways, making it a very useful ability.

While useful, this Keyblade does have its limits and can be difficult to fully master. With the Shadow Dance ability, the afterimages are only about one-half as powerful as the original and will only repeat the actions that the user does a short time after they do them. The time between when the user does the actions and when the afterimages act varies depending on the speed of the user. The Omega ability Living Eclipse also has its limits. While useful, its power is greatly affected by where it's used. In a bright area or in the daytime the ability will be much weaker compared to using it in a shaded area or at night. Still, used properly, Lunar Eclipse is a powerful weapon.

AN: I got the new lesser Nobodies, Inmates, from Zetsuei from .Ed. It just seemed to fit and since Nobodies are formed from the souls and wills of those consumed by the darkness, I would think that different worlds would produce at least some slightly different Nobodies. Also, I chose Twilight Blaze and Lunar Eclipse because they are two of the cooler Keyblades from 356/2 Days and seemed to represent Light and Dark respectively very well. Coming up, the showdown with the Red Queen and the end of the first world arc.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 09: Day 371: The Cracked Looking Glass

To put it simply, the entire area around the Red Queen's castle was a fiery warzone. White chess pieces were going toe-to-toe with Red as well as card guards and other creatures of the Queen's guard. As the battle raged on, Alice and Roxas made their way into the castle. As they did, they noticed that the castle was pulsing, almost as if it were alive. The very walls looked as if they were made of flesh, bone, and stone. Eventually, the two finally made it into the inner chamber of castle, just before the actual throne room. As they entered, the Cheshire Cat appeared his grin in place as always. "The Queen! The Queen! My lower incisors for the Queen! Where is that retched creature?" he asked out loud before fading away.

Roxas gazed around the area the two of them had entered. Everything was colored in a blood red and stank of both freshly cleaved flesh and long dead corpses. All around them was a pool of fresh blood that was constantly being refilled by a pair of crimson waterfalls. The two of them brandished their weapons, Roxas wielding Two Become One and Twilight Blaze while Alice held both the Vaporal Sword and the Jabberwock Eye Staff. Saying nothing the two made their way deeper into the twisted castle.

They came to a room with two staircases leading to a raised area. In front of them were three portraits, one of the Tweedles, one of the Mad Hatter, and the third of the Jabberwock. In the center of the room was a large heart-shaped stone carving holding a strange mirror. In the center of the raised area was a large, ornate door shaped like a heart. They ran up the staircases heading for the door. Immediately Roxas pointed his Keyblades at it to unlock it. However the beams of light seemed to have no effect on the door as it remained unmoving. The greater Nobody turned to his companion. "What now?" he asked simply.

Before Alice could answer, the Cheshire Cat once again appeared, this time right behind them and next to strange lever that they hadn't noticed before. "Few find their way. Some don't recognize when they do, some don't ever want to," he said as he turned to gaze at both them and the giant mirror in the center of the room. They got the hint and moved to pull the lever in order to find a way to open the door. However, the Cheshire Cat didn't immediately fade away like he usually did. "A word of caution, sometimes a mirror shows more truth than the object it echoes, including the truths that can't be seen," he said ominously before fading away once again.

"That is one weird cat," Roxas commented before Alice pulled the lever. Immediately the mirror started to move, spinning around until it stopped, facing the portrait of the Tweedles. Taking the cat's advice, the two went down and looked into the mirror. Immediately the mirror flowed forward as if it were living water and engulfed the both of them. They each were standing back-to-back in a liquid world facing someone they knew quite well. In front of Alice was Doctor Heironymous Q. Wilson, her primary "caregiver" from Rutledge Asylum. Roxas faced DiZ, his warden from Twilight Town.

Wilson spoke to Alice in a calm demeaning voice as the world shifted to her cell at the asylum. "Well Alice, it looks like you've regressed. I'm sorry to say that you'll have to be confined indefinitely or at least until you stop having these preposterous delusions. Talking animals, cats that disappear, cake that makes you grow, Boojums, rabbits with watches, this is nothing but nonsense Alice. None of it is real," he spoke with authority.

The emerald-eyed girl looked down to see herself in a straitjacket and alone with no one else but the Doctor. She stared at Doctor Wilson for a moment in doubt before narrowing her eyes. "No," she said calmly and with an edge in her voice. "Wonderland is real."

The doctor sighed heavily. "Now Alice, please don't be difficult. Wonderland is just a fantasy."

Alice then started to chuckle before exploding into laughter with a grin that would rival the Cheshire Cat's. "Perhaps it is simply a fantasy, but it is my fantasy. It is my world, my sanctuary … my home and I will not simply give it up because you say so!" she yelled, shattering the reflective world.

Behind her, Roxas stared down his warden DiZ. The red clothed scientist spoke first. "Do you honestly believe you have feelings? Preposterous. Nobodies have no heart and thus are unable to feel anything. They are merely leftovers of real people lost to the darkness. The truth of the matter is you don't truly exist," he said in his superior sounding voice.

Roxas gripped his Keyblades tightly before responding. "I may be just a Nobody … and I don't know if what I feel is real or not. However … I do know one thing … and that is that my will is my own! I will find a way to gain a heart of my own without Sora!" he yelled, dispelling the reflective world.

The two of them appeared in front of the mirror again. They looked at each other and said nothing, having a good idea of what their companion had gone through. Quickly, Roxas went up and pulled the lever again, causing the mirror to rotate to face the Mad Hatter portrait. Reluctantly, the two stood in front of the mirror and were once again engulfed into a world that reflected more than images.

Once again Alice stood alone, this time facing the Mad Hatter himself, only he wasn't twisted as she had seen before. He wore a suit instead of strait jacket, his face no longer twisted but thin, pale, aristocratic, like the real Hatter she had known long ago. They two were sitting at the same tea table she had sat at when she had first entered Wonderland as a child. Alice said nothing as she waited for the image of her once friend to speak. "Now then Alice, I know you been through much, oh yes. Being burned alive, losing your family, fighting through Wonderland, you have truly suffered." The girl said nothing, wondering where he was going with this. "But this need not be. Why bother going through all this torture when it can all be avoided?" he said calmly while sipping some tea.

The girl narrowed her emerald eyes as she remembered the real Hatter mentioning something similar before demanding the Eye Staff. "What do you mean?" she asked carefully.

The Hatter smiled before speaking. "Just leave Wonderland. By leaving it behind you would be free to live how you wanted. You would be able to leave the asylum and take up your family's estate again." Alice was silent as she contemplated his words. "You'd be free Alice. You could walk out of the asylum without a care in the world and see the sun for the first time in ten years," he said in a calm voice.

Alice looked down at the teacup in her hand. Her thoughts whirled around her family and what they would want for her. They would've wanted her to be free and happy. Could she really leave behind Wonderland? Her thoughts then turned to her friend Roxas. He was dedicated to undoing his mistake in creating Kingdom Hearts for the Organization and somehow reviving Xion. Despite both tasks being monumental, he would not abandon his promise to her … and Alice would not abandon Wonderland to the Red Queen. She set her cup down. "If I left Wonderland to the Red Queen, I might be able to walk out of the asylum but I would not be free." She stood up after setting her teacup down. "I refuse to let Wonderland die for my benefit. I will kill the Red Queen and undo my mistakes," she said confidently. Once more the mirror world broke.

The greater Nobody stood in a white room facing someone he once liked but now hated, Namine. On the walls were various pictures of Sora, Riku, and their friends along with pictures of him, Axel, and … Xion. He glared at her, gripping his Keyblades tightly, just daring her to give him a reason to attack. The pale-haired girl didn't seem to notice his agitation as she began to speak. "You've come a long way Roxas and suffered much," she stated calmly not easing the boy at all. "All for the sake of being whole again. There is however a way for you to be whole and to be with Xion again."

Roxas knew what she was referring to even before she finished her … suggestion. "I refuse to merge with Sora simply because everyone says it's the right thing to do!" he yelled at her, Twilight Blaze igniting in his hand.

Namine continued to ignore his obvious irritation. "Even if it means being with Xion again? Even if it means being whole and not having to worry about the Organization?" she said calmly.

The black-cloaked boy quieted for a moment before responding again. "I was given a mission from Xion and I will complete that mission. How could I face her again knowing that I willing gave up?" he said simply. Namine stood silent as the reflective world around them shattered.

The two fighters came out of the mirror again, looking even more solemn then before. They had one more portrait to face and this one would more than likely be the worst of them. Alice reluctantly pulled the lever and the mirror turned to face the image of the Jabberwock, just as dangerous looking as the original. The two stepped in front of the mirror and were engulfed for a third and final time.

The world shifted to a place Alice knew quite well. It was a cottage that was finely and tastefully decorated in Victorian style. This had been her home, the home that she and her family had been in before all this madness had truly started. As she gazed around the place, she caught sight of the fireplace that blazed with a well stoked flame. However, the more she stared at the fire, the more violent it got until it suddenly burst from the fireplace. The flames engulfed the entire room in a wave of heat. Alice stood stock still as the fire raged around her, not touching her at all. Once the place had become an inferno, that's when Alice heard it.

_AliCe … aLIcE … WhAt HAvE yoU DonE!_

These unearthly, haunting voices came from behind her, causing the emerald-eyed girl to slowly turn in fear. There in front of her was her family, her mother, father, and sister, all burning alive and slowly coming towards her. Their grotesque, burning hands reached out for her as they approached.

_YoU kILLeD uS alICe … DeSTroYeD Us … mURdeREd yOuR oWn … FAMILY!_

Alice shook her head as she covered her ears and closed her eyes to block out the terrible vision. "You're not real … I didn't kill my family." They drew closer, their scorching hands now grabbing her body and burning her though she paid no notice. "It wasn't me," she whispered as the flames started to engulf her lower body. "It wasn't me," she said a little louder as the infernal forms of her family wrapped around her, bent on dragging her into the inferno with them. "It … wasn't … ME!" she screamed at last, her voice taking all her emotion and power into one massive scream, blowing away the false family as well as the flames surrounding her. The entire fire was snuffed out like a candle against a hurricane force of her scream and will. Once she stopped, there nothing but black, reflective darkness all around her. "It wasn't me," she said softly as the reflective world ended.

It was black, all the buildings around Roxas were black with the only color and light coming from the neon signs on them along with the massive screen on top of the nearby skyscraper. The greater Nobody knew this place well, it was the Dark City just outside the Castle that Never Was and like before … it was raining … hard. In front of him was the one building that now haunted him, Memory Skyscraper, and in front of that, standing on the top of the steps leading inside it was a very familiar figure … Xion.

Roxas' eyes widened at the sight. Before he could do anything, the girl spoke, her voice containing a metallic quality as she did. "Roxas … why didn't you save me?" he voice echoed. As she spoke her lower body started to crystallize, just like before in Twilight Town. Immediately Roxas dashed forward to get to her to stop this, but was stopped by a sudden surprise.

The fountain in front of the building suddenly gushed out, creating a massive tidal wave of dark water. The former Organization member was pushed violently back and instinctively tried to summon his Keyblades only to find them not responding to his call. Despite this he pushed forward against the current, determined to get to her. "I will save you Xion! I will keep my promise!" he yelled out as the water violently rose.

"You failed your mission Roxas … You broke your promise," Xion intoned as more of her body became crystal. More and more water flowed, not just from the fountain but from the drainage pipes and the surrounding alleys. Roxas swam as much as possible in order to get to Xion, but the churning water was through him around like a rag doll.

"Xion! I will keep my promise!" he yelled before his head fell beneath the waters. The black water seemed to engulf everything as Xion just stoically watched, her body becoming a crystal statue. The Keyblade wielder tried to climb to the surface, to get to Xion, to undo his mistake of creating Kingdom Hearts … to keep the promise he made to last person he considered family as she died in his arms after killing her. He … would … not … fail.

Suddenly, from deep beneath the churning black water, a beam of piercing white light shot out. More beams appeared, smaller but no less intense. More light erupted until the entire area was lit up as the black water was dispersed. All that remained was Roxas standing in the center of the area, dark colored steam rising from all around him and his own body. He looked up just in time to see Xion's crystallized corpse once again dissolve, this time into dust that blew in his direction. He looked down at his hand to see the small seashell she had left for him so long ago now. "I will keep my promise," he said quietly as the world of reflection ended for the last time.

Alice and Roxas emerged as the heart shaped mirror shattered into dust. The three portraits of their past foes were all engulfed in black flame until nothing was left. Both were breathing hard after their ordeals made even worse by the fact that they still had to face the Red Queen herself. The two went up to the main door which was now unlocked. As they approached the Cheshire Cat once again faded into existence. "Bravery and I are not on intimate terms. My natural curiosity is tempered with caution and thus I've lived long," he spoke as he kept fading in and out in front of them, pacing back and forth as he did so. It seemed he had a problem staying in one place for too long. "But now, ignoring my instinct to flee or fib, I speak the truth without regard to consequence. Your courage deserves no less." His voice was different now, less mysterious and more serious, more urgent than before. "You've both suffered great pain and you've caused some. You've endured deep grief and feelings of guilt, but you two will be tested by a more wrenching anguish Alice, Roxas. There is worse to come. The two of you and this Red Queen cannot all survive." As he spoke the doors behind the Cat silently opened. None of them noticed until it was too late. "You are all parts of the same…"

It struck like lightning, something shooting out of floor and decapitating the Cheshire Cat before he could finish. Alice stood in shock for a moment before breaking down crying, even worse than when the White Rabbit was killed by the Hatter's boot. She fell to her knees and started to openly cry, barely able to look at the corpse of their guide and one of her closest friends. Roxas silently went over and held her, a few tears escaping from his eyes that blazed with rage. 'No more,' he thought violently, 'this madness has to end.' With that, he carefully helped Alice back her feet. The girl wiped her eyes before bringing out the Jabberwock Eye Staff and the Voporal Blade. Roxas summoned Two Become One and Rejection of Fate after pulling his hood over his head, encasing his face in darkness. The two silently nodded to one another and went into the throne room to end this … one way or another.

**Journal Entry Day 371**

Rutledge Private Clinic and Asylum Casebook

Patient: Alice Liddel

Date Admitted: 4 November 1864

Physician: Heironymous Q. Wilson

_13 August 1874_

_Everything I can think of, I have done. Treatments, remedies, disciplines and pleasures – nothing makes a difference. Alice speaks when and about what she wants, recites poetry on a seeming whim, draws pictures at her own pleasure. She does nothing at my command, instruction, entreaty or request. She's become very willful and nothing I do or say makes a difference._

_I truly do, however, become immersed in her fantastical tales of Wonderland and her companion Roxas. I wait for the day when she and him claim victory over the Red Queen and her minions, when Wonderland will be restored. Perhaps by this Alice will cure herself, regain her balance, and leave this place of her own violation._

_Sometimes she appears to be so close, but at other times I'm certain it'll never happen and she'll spend the rest of her life housed behind Rutledge's gaunt brown walls … with me._

_24 August 1874_

_If it's our keen invention you'd like to dictate_

_We'll withstand your best shot, we defy our own fate._


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 10: Day 372: Long Live the Queen

Alice and Roxas silently entered the throne room. Like everything else in Wonderland it was twisted and decayed. On the other side of the room sat the Red Queen, warped just like everything else in the queendom, on a throne that seemed to be made of both precious metals and gems and the corpses of those who had angered her. She was only partially humanoid, with her upper body in the shape of a woman clothed in a purple and red corset with large spiked rings on her neck and wrists. From her waist down however there was nothing but a group of tentacles similar to an octopus. Her head sported four large horns, two that curved to the side like a goat's with two more pointing straight out of the top of her head. Her face was hidden by a pristine white mask in the shape of beautiful woman's face that somehow resembled Namine. The irony of the white mask did not escape the Keyblade wielder or his companion.

The two of them could tell that the stench of blood and death in the room all emanated from the Red Queen as they entered. They stood in the center of the room facing her as silence descended on all three of them for a moment. It was broken when both Roxas and Alice quietly asked the same question. "Who am I?"

The Red Queen seemed to look at them before muttering four simple words. "Off with their heads."

With that simple phrase the battle had begun. The white mask fell away to reveal the Queen's true face … nothing. There was no face underneath the mask, just a form of flesh, no eyes, no mouth, nothing. As the mask fell, the Queen rose up into the air due to a large tentacle sticking out of her back as the ground split, creating a chasm between them and the Queen. Immediately Roxas summoned Two Become One and Twilight Blaze as Alice brandished both the Eye Staff and the Vaporal Blade.

Immediately, two of the tentacles hanging from the lower half of the Queen shot straight down into the ground. Reacting on pure instinct, Alice and Roxas dove to opposite sides as the tentacles shot up out of the ground like living spears. Moving quickly, Roxas jumped up on one of the pillars in the room before jumping at the Queen herself to attack. Alice meanwhile launched her Jacks in order to provide a distraction. While the Jacks did strike her, she stopped Roxas' assault by pointing her three-fingered tentacle-like hand at him, freezing him in mid-air with a strange blue glow. The boy had only a moment to mutter an "oh shit" before being telekinetically launched into one of the stone pillars in the room, striking it with a sickening crack, nearly letting go of his Keyblades as a result.

The rage in Alice rose at the sight and took aim with the Eye Staff. As fast as the violet beam was however, the Queen kept swerving out of the way. Scowling, the enraged girl chose a different target, the base of the tentacle holding the Queen up. As soon as the beam struck she got a reaction. The Queen roared in pain and launched explosive bolts similar to what the Heart card guards used. Before the bolts hit, Roxas jumped in front of Alice, Twilight Blaze flashing and transforming instantly into Rejection of Fate. He pointed the Keyblade forward, creating a small Mirror Wall in front of them. The bolts hit the barrier and were reflected back at the Queen. The twisted monarch screamed in pain as her own attack struck her.

Immediately dropping the Mirror Wall, Two Become One flashed as the Aura Blade extended. Wielding it like a whip, Roxas lashed out at the Queen, striking her several times before she retaliated with blood red beams on energy from the tips of her tentacles. The two dashed in opposite directions, making it harder for the Queen to land a hit. Roxas immediately jumped up off the wall in order to get in close again, Twilight Blaze flashing back again and igniting its Heat Aura while Alice once again aimed the Eye Staff. Once again she targeted the tentacle itself while her partner landing on the tentacle behind the queen and started attacking. The twisted monarch roared in pain before grabbing Roxas' coat with her three-fingered hand and throwing him away from her while launching more attacks after him.

Roxas skidded across the ground a couple meters, deflecting and dodging the attacks in midair before he brought Two Become One and Twilight Blaze together, both burning with energy. He then unleashed a massive wave of Chaos Blades that were enhanced by Twilight Blaze's Heat Aura. Alice at the same time threw a jackbomb at the Red Queen, detonating at the same time Roxas' attack hit. The resulting explosion was massive, causing the Queen to whip around wildly on the tentacle in her death throes before slamming into the ground motionless, dark purple blood draining into the cracked floor beneath her.

As the two carefully approached the Queen's corpse, putting away their weapons and Roxas pulling his hood back, two sparkling orbs made up of white, black, and gray light emerged. They faintly reminded Roxas of that fairy he had met in Wonderland as he watched each of the orbs fly into him and Alice. They were both covered by a mist-like aura of the same energy and instantly they felt … lighter. The feelings of guilt and depression were lessened, not gone, but not as sharp as they once were and they were now able to deal with them.

They were broken out of their self-musings when the tentacle, not the Queen, but the tentacle moved, pulling the corpse back into a hole behind the throne. The hole exploded and in its place was a large, monstrous face with two burning eyes like those of the Jabberwock and a massive disfigured jaw. It had no other normal face features, no nose, no eyes, nothing else and its skin looked callused, as if someone had taken a flamethrower to it, allowed it to grow back, and then repeated the process several times. Roxas and Alice cautiously stared at it as it seemed to grin back at them before opening its mouth to reveal … another face. This one was actually two halves of two different faces fused together in the middle, where one face quickly faded into the other. The right side of the face was that of the Mad Hatter while the right side was of Xenmas. This dual face opened its mouth wide to reveal a third face, fused from two others like the one it was in. The left side was Xion's face while the right was Alice's own face. Roxas' and Alice's eyes widened at the sight, not sure what to make of it.

She … It … The Queen of Hearts spoke to them in a dual voice of both Alice's and Xion's that fluctuated between sounding commanding, demeaning, and demonic as her apparent rage them did. "I rule Wonderland alone. Your interference will not be tolerated. This realm is for grown-ups. Raw, well-ordered, ruthless, careening on the jagged edge of reality. Self-pitying dreamers are not welcome here, they cannot survive here." Her voice became more condescending though the demonic aspect was in full force. "You fear the truth, you live in shadows and nothingness; your pathetic attempts to reclaim your sanity have failed. Retreat to the sterile safety of your self-delusions, or risk inevitable annihilation. If you destroy me, you destroy yourselves. Leave now and some hollow parts of you may survive. Stay and I will break you down! You will lose yourselves forever!" With that the Queen retreated into the twisting abyss behind the throne.

Alice and Roxas looked at each other, dark emerald meeting shifting blue. Now words were said as Roxas pulled up his hood and readied Twilight Blaze and Two Become One. Alice redrew the Jabberwock Eye Staff and her Vaporal Blade. With a silent nod to one another, they leaped into the abyss.

They entered a place full of twisting darkness, standing on floating platforms of rock with the only like coming from their auras and the hellfire from the Queen herself. If Roxas hadn't known better, he would've sworn he was in the Realm of Darkness. He had little time to think on it as the true form of the Queen of Hearts rose up from the darkness in front of them. It was a writhing mass of flesh with a large protruding gut, a ring of flesh extending from its back spewing out hellfire, and a number of tentacles extending from its torso. At the end of a few of those tentacles were some familiar forms. At the end of one was the Mad Hatter, another the form of the Red King, a third sporting half the body of the Centipede, and one more with the upper torso of the Jabberwock. It was a nightmare multiplied.

Below them was an endless valley of twisted flesh, all of it pulsing with the same beat. 'No, not just any beat,' Alice thought as she gazed at the manifestation of both her and Roxas' madness. 'A heartbeat. The Queen of Hearts is literally the heart of Wonderland's corruption.' A twisted grin like that of her deceased feline friend appeared on her face. 'Well then, it looks like we're going to have to rip the heart out of Wonderland in order to save it.' Without an obvious signal, the true final battle for Wonderland and the sanity of its two champions began.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Within the Deep Dive a literal storm raged as Namine tried to weather it in order to see what was going on between Roxas and Sora. The pale girl hadn't noticed the storm before in her previous visits until and cursed herself for it. Something was attacking Roxas' mind and soul and since he was still connected to Sora it was spilling over. It was taking all she had just to contain it from doing any extensive damage. The storm itself was centered; not around the main pillar but instead seemed to be emitted from the black and red pillar where the large red beast was chained. The blood-red humanoid roared. Whether in pain, rage, or joy the Nobody couldn't say. All around her memories in the form of crystal shards flew around like snowflakes caught in a blizzard. They were fragmented and even worse were that some of them belonged to neither Roxas, Sora, nor Xion. Instead they seemed to belong to the dark-haired girl pictured on the red pillar. 'This is bad. Whatever the source of that pillar is, it's tearing apart Roxas' heart and will do the same to Sora's unless I do something!' she thought wildly as she started to make her way towards the pillar.

The female Nobody stopped when she heard a low growling. It was then she looked up at the monstrous red humanoid that was now … awake. Its burning eyes gazed down at her with palpable hatred and rage. It started to struggle against its chains, ignoring the raging tempest around it. "Namine," it said in a low demonic voice. "I will destroy you. You will pay for your interference with my memories! With Xion! You eternal traitor!" it roared out as it struggled to get at her.

Said traitor backed away, not wanting to be close to that thing if it got loose. She had no idea what it truly was; only that it seemed to embody Roxas' rage. However, her thoughts were interrupted by another voice. Well, not a voice, more of psychic impression. This voice was devoid of any emotion and had a metallic tone to it, almost like that of a machine. "Subject: Namine. Classification: consistent traitor. Threat level: high. Assessment: immediate termination." The voice, if you would call it that, was coming from the Twilight Thorn. It too was struggling against its restraints to attack her. She had suffered no delusions that if either of these creatures broke free that she would survive.

'What is going on? Why is all this happening?' she thought as she attempted to both contain the storm and keep her distance from the two creatures attempting to break free and kill her.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The battle for the fate of Wonderland raged all throughout the dark, fleshy void they were contained in. Alice was dealing more with the forms of the Jabberwock and the Mad Hatter while Roxas focused on the Red King and the Centipede. Both kept their eyes on the central body of the Queen as they tried to dodge the various barrages of attacks from her, most of which came from her oversized gut which was actually a large, fang-lined, mouth.

Roxas slashed at the revived, so to speak, Red King while avoiding a lunge from the Centipede. None of the extensions spoke or seemed as intelligent as their original counterparts. However, what they lacked in intelligence they made up for in raw savagery. It was all the two champions could do just to survive. It didn't help that all five of the creatures they were facing were all taunting them. "fAiLuRes! MuRdErS! YoU kIlLeD yOuR fAmIlLeS! It'S aLL YouR FAULT!" they screamed and raged at the two.

"Shut up!" Roxas snarled. They paid no heed and continued, repeating over and over, "It'S aLL YouR FAULT!" like a type of chant. The chant grew louder and louder, drowning out any other thoughts the two might have had.

Their rage built to unimaginable levels. Rage at their pasts, their losses, their family, and … their failure in the past. In an instant they both transformed. Alice took on her full rage form. Her height grew, muscles bulged, her skin shifted to a bloody crimson even darker than before, now looking almost draconic in appearance. Two large horns grew out of the sides of her head as before, curving backward but this time with razor like spikes lining them. Her fingers lengthened and sharpened, become lethal claws, her teeth sharpening into fangs as she extruded an aura of pure vengeance. There was also a ripping noise that got everyone's attention as out of her back appeared a pair of twisted wings. They were a mix of butterfly wings and dragon wings. Their overall shape was that of an ornate butterfly's but with a structure like a dragon's with reptilian skin between the extensions. They were colored red like the rest of her skin with black and dark blue markings. Immediately she took to the air, the Vorpal Blade and Eye Staff blazing with energy.

Roxas also took on his form of rage, even more extreme than the first time. Like before, his coat became crimson with black flames, his skin draconic with his eyes blazing. Unlike before, armor appeared on his body that was visible from under his coat. Black shoulder pads with spikes along with shin and knee guards also with spikes appeared. Two Become One automatically shifted to Sanity's Edge, surging with black energy while Twilight Blaze was engulfed with red fiery energy. Both he and Alice went on the offensive.

Alice flew right at the Jabberwock replica, her blade blazing with energy as she slashed at the creature, tearing off one of its arms. Both the replica and the Queen herself roared in pain. She then brandished the Eye Staff and blasted the copy at point blank range with a full charge. Once again the Queen and copy roared in pain as the Jabberwock now had a gaping hole in its chest. Roxas was waging an assault on the Centipede replica while avoiding attacks from the Red King. The transformed Nobody jumped on the insect and ran down its body, slashing off its many legs as he did so. Just before he got to the part where the replica ended and the tentacle began, he crossed his arms and sliced through the tentacle, separating the entire replica from the Queen. Corrupted blood sprayed everywhere from the two lost limbs as they turned their attention to the two more humanoid replicas.

"STOP!" the Red Queen yelled in rage. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" she roared in a demonic yet pleading tone of voice as Alice turned on the Hatter while Roxas focused on the Red King. Both tried to defend themselves, but were unable to stand against the pure fury the two had. All their suffering, turmoil, and rage were turned into pure power that was now directed at the replicas and on the Queen herself. "I RULE THIS WORLD … YOU WILL NEVER BE RID OF ME!" Both replicas were quickly dispatched, not having the intelligence of the originals. Now they turned on the central body of the Red Queen.

Roxas jumped from platform to platform while Alice flew high, both of them intent on ending the Queen. With the remaining tentacles she had, the Queen lashed out, though everything she had left at the two. The vengeance fueled champions dodged her attacks before striking at one. The both slashed downwards from opposite corners, creating a massive X before rising up again, cutting off the remaining tentacles. Roxas angled himself high above the Queen while Alice charged the Jabberwock Eye Staff to full power once again. The crimson Nobody came down like a guillotine, cutting the Red Queen of Hearts down the middle creating a familiar roman numeral just before Alice unleashed a rain of hellfire on the Queen from the Staff. This was the Shattered Sanity XIII and the Queen could not withstand it.

The demon form of flesh cried out in agony as she was ripped apart. Corrupted blood spewed everywhere as her body literally fell apart. The two champions watched in silence as the once monstrous monarch collapsed onto herself until she was nothing more than a pile of rotting flesh. It was done. The Queen was dead.

Just as the two were about to walk away they heard it. Crying … soft, child-like crying. The voice making this sound was that of a child and yet it had the same demonic undertones that the Red Queen had possessed. Stranger still was the fact that it was coming from the center of the mass of flesh that had been the Queen just moment before. They stared at the area it was coming from before looking at each other with a strange question in their now hellfire eyes. "That can't be what I think it is … can it?" Roxas asked his voice low and sounding like a beast's.

Alice frowned. "One way to find out," she responded, her own voice as demonic as his. The two went over and shoved away the rotting piles of Queen-flesh until they came to the source of the whimpering. It was a girl … sort of. More accurately it was a young child, looking out ten years old or so with short black hair and pale skin dressed in what looked like a royal dress with a small crown on her head. However there were a few things that pointed to this not being a normal child other than her location. For one, out of the bottom of her dress was a massive flow of flesh that connected her to everything else in the room and possible Queensland. The second less obvious but more important trait was that her left eye was color a stunning emerald while her right was a pristine sapphire. Both of them knew who and what this child was, the true Queen of Hearts.

"Are you happy now?" the child Queen sobbed, tears of blood running down her ivory pale cheeks. "You've won. I hope you'll be happy with the Wonderland you've created," she said bitterly.

Alice frowned. "Happier than the one you were making. Why do this? Why make everyone suffer so?" she asked the Queen. Alice knew that deep down the Queen had once been part of herself and thus she wanted to know why a part of herself would do this to a place as fantastical as Wonderland.

Now the child chuckled humorously. "To restore what was lost. Wonderland wasn't the only thing that shattered you … I … we shattered as well. When Roxas found out the truth he too was shattered and became mixed in this. I was trying to restore order to our lives, to forcefully piece back what we all lost."

"Lost? What do you mean?" Alice demanded of the child-like demon queen.

Roxas stood silent, going over in his mind what the Red Queen had been trying to do. She had been trying to piece something together … but what? What was so important that she'd go to these lengths to restore it? What was worth the cost of twisting this world like this? It then hit him like a freight train. "Memories," he said quietly causing both of them to turn to him. "Our memories, you were trying to restore our memories," he half stated half asked.

The demonic girl with a crown snorted. "Indeed. There is far more going on then the two of you are able to perceive. I tried to forcefully put it all back together but the individual pieces have become so twisted and corrupted that everything else, I myself included, has also been corrupted." She then looked up, her green and blue eyes looking at them. "What will you do now?" she asked in an almost frightened tone of voice.

Both of them de-transformed and looked at each other in silence. The black-coated Nobody spoke first. "I think … that killing you would solve nothing. As the Cheshire Cat said, we're all connected." He then looked the Queen in the eyes for a moment before turning to Alice. "She's you … or originally a part of you and she had the same goal as us from the start, to restore Wonderland and our minds. When I came in the task was made even more complicated." He then held out his hands, one to each girl. "To get everything back to on the right track, I think we need to work together."

Alice looked at the hand and then at the Red Queen who bore such a likeness to both herself and Xion. In the end, after all the hell they had been through, she still couldn't blame the Queen. For while insane, she knew that to hate oneself, any part of oneself, was just simple stupidity. She took Roxas' hand and offered her other to the pale child. "It's time for us, all of us, to start healing from the past," she stated as she looked at the Queen kindly now. Wordlessly, the Red Queen reached out her tentacle like hands and grasped Alice's and Roxas'.

Immediately a massive eruption of black, white, gray, red, and gold energy came from the three of them. It spread out all over Queensland and beyond that. All the battles, all the ruination, all the corruption just stopped, halted in time as if they had used Hatter's Watch on all of Wonderland. The light faded and revealed to all a healed Wonderland. Not restored, no not fully, not yet anyways, but far more pleasant now than a few minutes ago. Many of those who had been slain were restored. Hatter was now back from the void and drinking tea with the March Hare and Dormouse once again. The Griffon flew high above the majestic Vale of Tears, now a stunning garden with a hint of sorrow, as Mock Turtle looked on in happiness. The Caterpillar and Pale Royals were also restored as the sky cleared to show a brilliant realm of twilight. The light faded and the three found themselves in a restored throne room that now looked like an actually throne room rather than an destroyed dream

The three let go and looked at each other, amazed at what had happened. Even the Red Queen was shocked at the results. All three could feel the change that been wrought Shaking herself out of it, the child spoke again, her voice still demonic though not nearly as harsh as before. "So what will you two do now?"

Before any of them could answer, the Cheshire Cat appeared once more, head reattached to his bony neck, his grin firmly in place. "Congratulations you three. Very few find the way and most of them don't recognize it when they do and some don't ever want to. Delusions too die hard even with the aid of time. Only the savage regard the endurance of pain as the measure of worth. Forgetting pain is convenient. Remembering it, agonizing. But recovering the truth is always worth the suffering."

Alice sighed, knowing the answer that the Cat was hinting at but not liking it. "I … We … You and I still need to work on restoring Wonderland and our true memories," She said to the Queen before turning to Roxas. "You need to continue your journey. While I wish you could stay, you still have a promise to keep and a mission to finish," she said sadly.

Roxas nodded quietly. "True, but that doesn't mean I can't come back at another time. Besides, I think I could stay around for a short time longer, maybe for some tea?" he asked with a lopsided smile.

The Red Queen now spoke, her voice now much lighter than before but still retaining its demonic quality. "I think some tea would do us all a world of good," she said smiling which the other two reciprocated.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Deep within the halls of Rutledge Asylum one of the nurses went to check on one of their most well known … residents. Nurse Witless walked into the cell containing Alice Liddell. Poor girl … her kin roasted like chestnuts in front of her eyes as well as herself being burned alive. Ten years she stayed in this dismal place and wasting everyone's time. She entered the room, expecting the girl to either be comatose or raving as usual. The fact that she heard no screams pointed to the later. However, when she entered the cell she got a surprise. "My gracious," she muttered in shock.

There the girl stood, standing quietly staring out the window, wearing a strange blue petticoat and white apron with blood stains on it. But it wasn't just her clothes that shocked the nurse, though where those came from she had no idea, it was the girl herself. For one she was taller than before, just yesterday in fact, and her skin looked healthy now though still pale. Her hair, which had been short her entire time here in the asylum, was now long and luxurious, reaching just past her shoulders. Though hidden by the new dress, the nurse could see that the girl was no longer emaciated and looked filled out as she should be. There were three things though that truly scared the elderly nurse. One was this … aura of power and will emanating from the girl. It was dangerous and seductive she could feel it and practically see it. The second thing was the girl's eyes. Whereas before they were a dull forest green, now blazed with an emerald fire, flickering between different shades just as a flame would. The last thing the she noticed was the strange necklace the girl was wearing. It looked like a spiked cross with three points on the top with what appeared to be an upside-down heart for the fourth point pointing down. It was white, outlined in red and black and seemed to be made of some strange crystal. Looked very valuable and Nurse Witless would have had no problem snatching it up as payment for a few drinks for her services if the one wearing said necklace didn't disturb her so.

Alice regarded the nurse quietly. Unlike Nurse D who was kind to Alice, Nurse witless was a selfish, self-absorbed drunk who took advantage of patients to satisfy her own addiction. "It's very rude to stare you know," she said simply, causing the nurse to break out of her stupor and go run for Doctor Wilson Alice just shook her head at the woman, Witless was a name that definitely suited her. She turned back to the window, casually fingering the new charm around her neck. "I entered the realm, now covered in blight, to undo the damage, to set things right. Through the land I made my way, aided by the wielder of keys of both night and day. With the Queen we finally did see, that all in one, one and all, that is the key," she spoke quietly to herself, smiling like her feline friend and thinking of another.

**Journal Entry Day 372**

**Perspective**

My time in Dark Wonderland is done for now, but I have learned something. Perspective makes all the difference. From the Red Queen's point-of-view she was only trying to rebuild and take care of Wonderland as a good ruler should. Her method may not have been the best but that wasn't entirely her fault. It makes me wonder about Organization XIII. While what they've done wasn't exactly nice, what choice did they … we have? Known methods for gaining back hearts are few and Kingdom Hearts seems like the only logical explanation. Still, there has to be more to it … to all the betrayal in the Organization. If we all had the same goal why all the backstabbing. No, there was more going on than I knew even though I was a central part of it all and still am. I will find my answers.

AN: Sorry this took so long but its hard writing fight scenes. In any case, onto the next world to meet a certain blonde haired hero and his wise-ass companion Orange Lightning.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 11: Day 373: Rebels in the Wasteland

Roxas exited the Corridor of Chaos into a new world. His time in Dark Wonderland had been interesting. He just hoped he'd be able to find his way back there someday as he still wasn't sure how his Chaos Corridors worked. 'I'll just have to experiment later. Right now, where am I?' the Nobody thought as he looked around.

Roxas stood on top of massive spire of rock with broken desert all around him. There were a few patches of trees here and there along with what looked like the remains of roads scattered throughout. The place was hot and humid with the stench of sulfur and machines. He could feel the wind picking up, a storm was brewing. "Where do I go from here?" he asked out loud. Much to his surprise he got an answer … in the form of a twisted grin.

The Cheshire Cat once again appeared his grin glowing and as wide as ever. "When knowing where you're going is preferable to being lost … ask," he said simply.

The Keyblade wielder blinked in confusion. "How … what are you doing here?" he asked surprised. He had thought that the Cat would've stayed in Dark Wonderland with Alice, so what was the enigmatic feline doing here?

The Cat chuckled. "Despite the distance you still retain a link to Wonderland and thus a link to Alice and myself. While Alice's journey has ended … for now … yours is still ongoing. There are many paths to take Roxas, choose wisely," he said before fading away.

The Nobody sighed as he looked around. The Cheshire Cat, while useful, rarely gave straight answers. Choose a path? What path? He got his answer when the sound of engines hit his ears. He looked down from the cliff he was standing on to see an armored carrier of sorts along with a yellow painted, desert vehicle dropping someone off. The storm was getting worse with sand blowing everywhere and from the looks of it those people were getting ready to leave before the full storm hit. "Well, the Cat did say to ask for directions," he mumbled to himself as she jumped down.

However by the time he got down there he saw that the transport was being attacked by what looked like raiders in spiked vehicles. Despite the people in the transport firing back, they weren't doing much damage. Deciding to step in, Roxas summoned Two Become One and Rejection of Fate and leaped down on top of one of the attacking vehicles.

The wastelanders attempted to repel the marauders as best they could but were having little success. While their transport was heavily armored, it could only take so much abuse and the new kid and his orange pet were still out gathering more of their comrades. "Damn these marauders!" one of them yelled. "They're like rats, when you take one, two more appear!" He was stopped in the middle of his tirade when a black cloaked figure landed from above and seemed to slash through the vehicle lengthwise before jumping high above them and onto another. "Who the hell is that!?"

Another of the wastelanders responded while firing. "I don't know but he's saving our asses!" The first had to agree with that as he watched the cloaked figure take out another marauder. It was then he noticed that the figure wasn't that tall, probably a teenager he guessed. They also noticed that he wielded two strange looking blades. It only became stranger when one of the blades suddenly blazed with what looked almost like a mix of Light and Dark Eco. The energy lashed out like a whip, striking one of the vehicles, causing it to spin out and crash into several others. It was then the first wastelanders noticed one of the marauders was moving to run the kid over. "Hey look out kid!" he yelled a warning.

The black-coated fighter saw the attack coming and quickly crossed his blades in front of him as if to block the attack. The wastelanders thought he was nuts until the vehicle actually hit him. The fighter didn't move an inch while the car crumpled as if running into a steel pillar. Everyone watching just blinked in stunned silence for a moment before the figure went on the attack again. Two more enemy vehicles were cut down before the fight restarted.

More marauders fell to the cloaked one's blades as the storm continually got worse. Finally a transmission came through from Jak, saying that the last wastelander had already died in the storm. "Jahon's dead, we need to go!" one of them yelled out to the others before turned to the cloaked figure who had literally just cut one of their attackers in half right down the middle when it tried to run over him again. The two halves kept going on either side of the strange swordsman before crashing behind him into the nearby rock face. "Hey buddy, come on we need to go!" he yelled out. The swordsman nodded and ran towards the transport as it revved up to get away from the marauders and to safety before the storm hit. He got in just as the transport revved out of there.

Roxas got in the transport with the other strangers, dismissing his Keyblades in twin flashes of light, startling his new companions and causing them to eye him cautiously. He watched as the back of the transport closed up before sitting down. He finally got a good look at the ones he had helped rescue. While relatively normal looking, the thing that stood out the most were their ears. They were long a pointed, sticking out several inches from the side of their heads. Other than that they were all dressed in worn clothes holding various weapons, most of which looked like guns of some kind, though what kind Roxas wouldn't know as that was Xigbar's weapon of choice not his. They rode in relative silence, most of them keeping a watchful eye on him, some with thanks for his help, most with suspicion.

The transport eventually stopped and opened, this time in what looked like a large stone garage filled with other vehicles. Many of the vehicles and equipment looked like it was all patched together from whatever they could get. Considering they were in the middle of a wasteland, Roxas supposed they did pretty well. He looked to see one of them approach him. He was tall, about Luxord's height, bald, with white dreadlocks hanging from the sides of his head and chin. Roxas lowered his hood, gaining a slight look of surprise from the guy as well as the surrounding watchers. "I am Damas, king of Spargus. My men tell me you defended them in the sandstorm, taking down nearly a dozen marauder strikers on foot with nothing more than a pair of strange swords. An impressive tale and my men are not known to exaggerate. So tell me boy, what were you doing out in the middle of the desert and why did you help my men?" he asked evenly.

Roxas matched his gaze unflinchingly, unknowingly impressing Damas, as he answered. "Name's Roxas. I'm a wanderer searching for answers. I ended up in the wasteland and it's easier to ask directions from the living than the dead," he replied with a smirk that Damas returned

"I see," the king replied evenly. "Tell me, what were these strange swords that my men mentioned?" he asked. Roxas silently backed up a couple steps before summoning Two Become One and Rejection of Fate. Damas' eyes widened as he inspected the blades. Both looked sharp and lethal. Once more, after being around Eco for so long, he could sense these weapons held great power. The fact that they just appeared in the boy's hands also signified them as being special. He nodded in acceptance before handing the boy a basic morph gun with the Scatter Shot, Blaster, and Beam Reflexor modifications, a communicator, a gate pass, and a battle amulet. "For your assistance, here is a battle amulet, earn two more in the arena to gain your citizenship to Spargus. There is also a gate pass to allow free access in and out of the city. Be warned, as you've seen there is no refuge outside these walls. The desert is less kind then I." Roxas nodded and walked into through the doors into the city proper.

Damas watched the boy walk away, his mind going over what he had seen and what he had been told. Those blades were far from normal as was the boy himself. For starters, his ears were far shorter than anyone else he had ever seen. Whether his ears had been cut off, or if he had actually been born that way were up for debate as he didn't seem bothered by it at all. It was also obvious to the seasoned warrior that the boy was unfamiliar with handling guns just by the way he took the morph gun. That meant he was more used to handling swords. 'Well, a little training in the arena and we'll see what this boy is really made of,' the king thought to himself.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Roxas sat on top of one of the stone building in Spargus, looking over the items he had been given, specifically the communicator and the gun. While he was familiar with the idea of each of these and had seen Xigbar use his arrow guns before, he had no experience with them. Add into the fact that this one seemed far more complex than Xigbar's, he was sure he would need practice. "Well no time like the present," he muttered to himself. He jumped down and made his way to the rocky shore that bordered part of the wasteland city. Seeing a few rocks in the distance, he switched the weapon to blaster mode and started to practice. He immediately found that it was much different then when he used any of his long range spells.

Unlike when he used his magic, he could not direct the shots with his will and thus had to compensate physically when he fired. There was also the difference between using Blaster mode and Scatter Shot mode. Scatter Shot mode provided a short and wide area of attack, but had some serious kickback that Roxas would have to take into account when using it. Blaster mode was easier to handle but it would take practice for him to be able to use it accurately. Beam Reflexor was tricky with the shots bouncing from one target to another and required practice to be able to use it to the fullest. To that end he started shooting at the targets, getting used to handling a long range weapon.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Jak walked through Spargus, Daxter on his shoulder as usual. He had just gotten back from rescuing the last of the wastelanders and going up against that weird Dark Maker probe. Over the communicator he had heard of a black coated kid taking out nearly a dozen of the marauders. 'I would've liked to have seen that,' he thought as he walked towards the large turret near the back side of the city facing the ocean. While Jak was no stranger to close range combat, he preferred his morph gun and Eco powers. To be able to use swords to take out marauders was impressive. The blonde was broken out of his thoughts by his furry little companion Daxter. "Hey Jak, check that out!" the ottsel said pointing to the large gun. The two walked up near the ladder to the turret where Kleiver was standing there seemingly watching something … or someone. The wide bodied wastelander turned towards them.

"Isn't it past your bed time for you ankle biters?" he chuckled at them, getting a dry look from both of them. He then motioned to the large turret on the stone spire behind him. "That gun turret used to be the only thing standing between us and the deserts cruel kiss. I used to be the top poppy on that baby. Wanna try to beat me score?" he asked arrogantly.

Daxter smirked. "Oh don't worry. Jak "beats" things all the time," he said suggestively, not seeing the blonde's hand rise behind him and smack him in the back of the head. He rolled his eyes at his diminutive partner as he climbed up the ladder to the turret. Taking the controls and activating the training program. Immediately targets started flying out of the ocean. The Eco warrior started taking them out, racking up points with ease. In no time he beat Kleiver score and then some. Once they did, they climbed back down where Kleiver was waiting and obviously miffed at what they had done.

"So you nippers walloped me score aye? Fine, the top poppy has to be snipped sometime. Law of the land says the top gunner hold a trophy in honor of their skill," he said as he pulled out a white Light Eco crystal in gold setting. "This crystal's yours now, but I'll be getting it back soon enough," he said tossing it to them. He then motioned to a black cloaked figure nearby on the rocky shore that seemed to using the rocks as target practice. "In the meantime, maybe you should give that pipsqueak a few pointers. He could use it."

Roxas sighed as he switched the gun from Beam Reflexor to Blaster mode. He had been seeing how many targets he could hit with one reflect shot. So far he could hit three or four in a row, but not much more that and he still wasn't used to the kick back from the Scatter Shot. "Damn, how could Xigbar use these things?" he muttered to himself.

"Well for one thing, your grip is off," a voice said behind him. Roxas turned to see a blonde wastelander approach him with what looked like an orange weasel on his shoulder. Roxas raised eyebrow at him. Despite his appearance, Roxas could tell that there was something different about this one. He could feel large amounts of Darkness in this elf, though he could also sense a certain amount of Light in him as well. However the Light didn't feel nearly as strong as the Darkness at the moment and felt recently added, not as well integrated as the Darkness.

The black-cloaked Nobody just shrugged. "Not my weapon of choice," he explained simply. "Name's Roxas," he said holding out his hand.

Jak shook the boy's hand. "I'm Jak and this is Daxter," he said motioning to short, orange animal as he shook the hand. "So how'd you end up in Spargus," he asked as he adjusted the boy's grip on the gun.

The Greater Nobody sighed as he took a few shots, getting used to the new position. "Got lost traveling. My old group double crossed me and I had to bail. Been doing some traveling to see what I could find to get revenge … and to fix a big mistake I made," he explained solemnly as he took a few shots in the new position, finding it easier to aim.

Jak just nodded as Daxter spoke up then. "Tell us about it. We got kicked out Haven City even though we saved their ungrateful hides," he complained as he watched the kid take a few practice shots with the morph gun in Blaster mode.

Roxas glanced at the two of them. "I take it there's a story behind that," he commented as .he put the gun away, having had enough practice for one day.

The ottsel snorted. "Long story short, we helped topple a tyrant and stop a metal head invasion and those jerks blame us for it. Some gratitude," he snapped.

Roxas just grinned. "Tell me about it. Thanks for the tips."

Jak nodded. "No problem, I'll be seeing you around," he said as Daxter climbed back up on his shoulder. As he walked away he glanced back at the boy. While his Eco control powers had been mutated due to the dark Eco, he could still sense it and as a result he could sense something coming from that boy, something powerful. He could feel something similar both Dark Eco and Light Eco in the black coated boy as well as something else. It wasn't Eco exactly but something similar and it didn't feel like any type of Eco he had encountered before. He would have to keep an eye on that guy.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Roxas sat in the room they had given him for new recruits. While it was sparse, it was still a decent place to rest and he needed it. He hadn't had much rest since beating the Red Queen in Dark Wonderland. Now he was in a wasteland in Spargus City with another city out there called Haven. This brought up a number of questions, the most important of which was why he felt so much Light and Darkness on this world, or at least something very close to two of the three prime elements. 'There's also what I felt inside that guy Jak and his weasel,' he thought to himself.

He was broken out of his thoughts as Cheshire appeared once again, fading into existence with his grin firmly in place as always. "Once again you've become a new piece in an ongoing game," he said lazily.

Roxas eyed the cat wearily. While he knew that Cheshire was intelligent and often supplied good information, it was never in a straightforward manner and could be more trouble than said information was worth. Deciding he had nothing to lose he asked, "So what can you tell me about this world?"

The only purred as he answered. "This is a new game with new rules Roxas. Unlike Wonderland, here there are multiple players and multiple sides. Some sides belonging to more than one player and some players belonging to more than one side. As to who's a player and who's a piece, I'll leave you to figure that out," he said as his tail swayed back and forth lazily.

The boy nodded, understanding a little of what the cat was getting at. "Why do I feel Light and Darkness in patches all over this place?" he asked concerned.

"As Meta-Essence is to Wonderland, so Eco is to this world. This world runs on the stuff both as a source of technology and of magic. What you are sensing is light and dark Eco in both the ground … and in the inhabitants," he stated as his grin grew slightly wider.

The Nobody narrowed his eyes in concern. He knew that other being besides Nobodies and Heartless could wield the prime elements, such as Sora with Light or that bastard Riku with Darkness, though he had yet to see a Somebody wield Nothingness. Now Roxas was on a world full of people with access to two of those elements. This could get interesting. "Well, at least they don't seem to have an equivalent to Nothingness," he said simply before looking directly at the cat, "or do they?"

The Wonderland resident chuckled. "Fortunately for you they do not … yet. You best get some rest Roxas, you have a very interesting day ahead of you tomorrow," he said as he faded away once again. The cloaked Nobody snorted as he lay down to get some sleep, knowing that the cat was probably right.

**Journal Entry Day 373**

**Spargus**

I'm in a new world and this one is certainly different from Wonderland. For one thing the technology on this world is more advanced than anything I've seen before. I've been listening to the people around me. Most of them are rejects from a place called Haven City. From the sound of it, there's some type of war going on between Haven and a group called the Krimson Guard as well as creatures called Metalheads. More than likely I'll find out soon enough.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 12: Day 374: Rebellious Clash

Roxas stood at the beach, watching as the sun slowly rose. Looking around he didn't see many out this early in the morning. He didn't get much sleep these days. Since his escape from DiZ, he had had little time to fully consider his situation. Now that he stopped to think about it, he was truly lost. He had no way to get back to the World That Never Was or Twilight Town or any of the other worlds he had visited before with the exception of Dark Wonderland due to his … connection to the place. The Chaos Corridors were far different than the Dark Corridors the he had used before. While he could form Dark Corridors, they were far more limited than Chaos Corridors. Each of the Prime Elements, Light, Darkness, and Nothingness were each powerful in their own right, but still had limits. That was why the Organization only formed Dark Corridors to planets within a certain range of Never Was. Sometimes they had to leap frog from one world to the next in order to reach the intended destination. They could only handle so much darkness at once and thus were limited.

Unlike the Dark Corridors, the Chaos Corridors were literally just that, chaos, and had no definite limits. He had no way to fully control them and direct him back to where he wanted to go, not without some way to guide them. He had tried a couple of times to open one back to Twilight Town but as soon as he looked at the other side he knew it wasn't right. Simply put, Chaos Corridors were completely random unless you had some way to guide them to a specific destination like a beacon or another path to act as a guide. He was lost.

The blonde boy's thoughts were interrupted once again by Cheshire fading into view. "I take it the true gravity of your situation has finally … sunk in," he said with a knowing grin which wasn't any different from his normal grin.

The Nobody nodded solemnly. "While I can get back to Wonderland easily enough, I can't get back to the World That Never Was, Twilight Town or anywhere else I've already been to. How will I find a way to bring back Xion if I can't even find my own way?" he asked solemnly.

The phantasm cat just snorted, his grin never leaving his face. "Seek and ye shall find they say, but they never say what you'll find. What is sought after will be found if it is truly sought … or if it is meant to be found," he said cryptically as usual.

Roxas frowned at the feline. "I don't like leaving my fate in the hands of destiny or anyone else for that matter. The last time I did Xion was lost and I was nearly erased from existence. My will and my fate are mine alone to control," he stated harshly.

He gave a growling purr as he answered the Nobody. "A healthy attitude to be sure. Still, there some things beyond the control of even destiny and you may have to simply … enjoy the ride," he said smugly before fading away once again. Roxas snorted and got up to get breakfast.

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

The storm had calmed within Deep Dive. Whatever had caused it had stopped much to Namine's relief. Still she was weary of getting too close to either of the pillars holding a creature, so she kept her distance and stayed on the incomplete central pillar. "Now to see about restoring these back to Sora," she said to herself as she knelt to get to work. However, she was stopped when a low, growling voice sounded behind her.

"I would highly recommend against that," it said, causing the white-haired Nobody to quickly turn around to see … a cat? It was a cat, but much larger than any she had seen before. It sat on its haunches and was about as tall as her, covered in smoke grey fur with pitch black markings. The feline's body was thin with demonic ridges giving it an almost skeletal look. The most disturbing thing about it though was its face. It wore an impossibly large grin, showing off its blood-stained fangs while both the grin and its eyes glowed with a demonic light.

"Who … what are you? How are you in Sora's heart?" she asked concerned at seeing this demon here. Before there had only been the occasional Shadow Heartless; remnants of Darkness from when Sora had been a Heartless himself. This creature however didn't look like any Heartless she had seen. So what was it?

The cat gave a rumbling chuckle. "Are you so sure of that?" he asked.

Namine was confused at the sudden question. "So sure of what?"

The cat started to pace around her slowly, much like a predator playing with its prey. "Of your actions. Are they dictated by fact or fear?" he asked, his grin never wavering.

"What are you talking about? The only way for Roxas to survive is if he joins back with Sora," she stated firmly with all the belief she had at the moment.

The cat chuckled again. "Really? And what is the basis for that fact? The word of a bandaged scientist who wants to use Sora as a weapon against all Nobodies? The command of a glorified rodent, who lets others do all his work? Or is it your own fear of being alone in purgatory that drives your belief?" The girl's eyes widened at the accusation.

"W… What are you talking about? I am not afraid of merging back with Kari, I just want what's best for everyone," she stammered out, not liking the way this cat was eyeing her.

"What is best for everyone or what everyone says is best? Obviously you and Roxas as well as the Organization have survived quite well without merging with your original hearts," it stated while getting uncomfortably close to the girl. "You watch what is happening but you refuse to see what it means for Roxas and what it could mean … for you," he said darkly.

Namine backed away from the creature, not liking its tone of voice or possible intentions. "But … Nobodies need hearts to truly exist and the only way to get them is through Kingdom Hearts," she stated as confidently as she could, which wasn't very much if she were honest with herself.

The cat just chuckled again, getting dangerously close to the female Nobody. "Again I ask; are you so sure of that?" His body then dissipated into a cloud of grey with his large, grinning face still apparent. The twisted mist enveloped the girl as the cat opened his grinning maw and pounced on her like the weak-willed prey she was.

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

Her scream penetrated the entire base that she, DiZ, and Riku were staying in. Namine bolted away from her meditative position. Immediately Riku, still stuck in the form of Ansem's Heartless came into the room, looking at her concerned. His concerned tripled when he saw her now pure white face and labored breathing, as if she had seen her worst nightmare made reality. The girl was shaking violently as she tried to calm herself down.

Riku frowned, not liking what this implied at all. He knew that Roxas was changing, distancing himself from Sora; making it less and less likely that the two would merge back together properly. If this kept up then Sora would never awaken and or never be truly whole. His hatred towards Roxas' due to his selfishness and towards Nobodies in general grew. He was beginning to see why DiZ hated them so.

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

Roxas entered the arena which was situated in a partially active volcano. The heat was intense and yet, despite his black coat, he wasn't too bothered by it. Whether it was because of the coat or because he was just waiting to summon Twilight Blaze, he didn't know or care for that matter. He had been summoned to do battle in the arena to earn his second amulet. 'Well at least this will be interesting,' he thought as he jumped down to the center of the arena where a number of platforms were set up, summoning Two Become One and Twilight Blaze.

Over the communicator he heard the voice of Pecker, Damas' advisor who looked like a cross between a monkey and tropical parrot. "For your first challenge you must collect all the tokens," he explained. Roxas could see a number of shining holographic tokens set up on the platforms.

The Nobody just smirked to himself as he dashed forward. This was no different than the emblem collection missions he had done while still with Organization XIII. In fact this was easier as the tokens were much easier to see and in very conveniently placed. In no time at all he had collected the tokens, having no trouble thanks to his glide and high jump abilities. He went back onto the platform and stood before Damas. "Nicely done, but that was just the warm-up. Let's see if what my men said about you is true. Adjust the matter converters! Prepare the arena for full combat," he called out.

The black-cloaked Nobody stood in the arena. It was a large, hollow square with a cross in the center, creating four pools of magma bubbling around him. He readied his Keyblades as more wastelanders joined him. Apparently he wasn't the only one earning an amulet today. The horn sounded and out of some gate around the arena poured captured marauders ready to kill.

He leapt into action, slashing through one marauder after another. Most of the other wastelanders were using guns to keep their opponents at bay and thus were surprised by his tactics. They also tended to form up into groups, making sure none of the marauders could get behind them. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jak using the various modes of the morph gun, including the recently acquired Vulcan fury. While Roxas was also able to handle the weapon, he knew he wasn't good enough yet to wield it in battle and stuck with his Keyblades and magic. The crowd seemed to love the latter as he let loose fire and lightning spells throughout the area as ice and air were less effective here in the middle of a magma pool.

Suddenly an alarm sound and Roxas noticed new platforms rising out of the lava pools at the four corners of platform they were on. He also noticed that the large square he was on was sinking into the molten rock. Getting the idea, he quickly jumped up and glided to the nearest corner platform. He watched disconnectedly as a few of the wastelanders didn't make it along with a few of the remaining marauders. 'Time for round 2' he Nobody thought as the main platform rose again, dripping magma from the sides. Now it was wastelander against wastelander.

Damas watched the arena battle carefully, specifically his two newest recruits Jak and Roxas. While both were certainly powerful, their fighting styles were very different. Jak was more like other wastelanders in that he relied on his morph gun to take out his enemies at a distance. That wasn't to say that Jak was no good at close combat. He fought like a brawler and with his dark Eco powers he was a force to be reckoned with. Roxas on the other hand was nearly the opposite, going straight for close combat with those strange swords of his. He also seemed to have strange powers of his own, but the king wasn't entirely sure they were Eco based. Launching attacks of fire and lightning when he was able to make sure they would hit, otherwise he would get in close to his targets and take them out with quick attacks before moving on. While still watching the fight he spoke to his "advisor" Pecker. "Tell me, what you think of Roxas?" he asked the monkey-bird.

"Despite his age he is a skilled fighter milord. Though where he would've gained such skills, I don't know," the multi-colored creature answered.

Damas nodded as it did seem odd for a swordsman to appear in the wasteland, especially while most people were used to guns in this part of the world. Even odder were the swords themselves. "I agree, and the swords themselves, do you know anything about them?"

Pecker was silent for a moment before answering. "Maybe. Before I came out here with Jak and the fuzz ball, I was the interpreter for Onin, the soothsayer in Haven. She spouted off all kinds of mystical mumbo jumbo. I remember her once going to some ruins for some herbs. In those ruins were some hieroglyphics, not Precursor, but something else … something older. She wasn't able to translate the writing there, but they depicted weapons similar to what Roxas is using. From what she was able to decipher, there was a massive battle involving them. Whether they were cause or simply the tools we weren't sure. All we know is that they were depicted as being important and powerful," he said evenly before looking back towards the arena, his eyes widening. "Looks like Jak and Roxas are going to go at it."

Down in the arena, Jak with Daxter on his shoulder stood on one end and Roxas at the other, both staring down their opponent. While they had nothing against each other personally, they knew they had to win in order to get another amulet. Absently Two Become One shifted into Rejection of Fate as Twilight Blaze erupted in flame. Jak just steeled himself, knowing this was not going to be as easy as some would think. Immediately he switched to blaster mode and let loose a volley of shots as Roxas dashed right at him. He deflected the shots with his Rejection of Fate as he got right up close to Jak. The blonde elf jumped away, barely dodging Roxas' slashes while Daxter was hanging on and trying to avoid being cut up. Thinking quickly, Jak shifted his gun to concussion wave mode and quickly charged it. See this, the swordsman jumped away before the wave was released.

Before Roxas could attack again, the alarm wailed, signaling the shifting of platforms again. Looking quickly, he dashed to one of the rising platforms while Jak did the same. The central platform sunk and now the two were standing on two different platforms. Daxter cried out, "Jak this is our chance!"

The elf nodded and switched his gun to Vulcan fury mode, setting his sight on Roxas who was by far the most dangerous here other than himself. "Sorry kid," he muttered to himself as he let loose a barrage on Roxas. However, both he and the crowd were shocked when he started to deflect the shots with his swords. The blades flashing and moving as the rate of fire quickly sped up. Twilight Blaze flashed and transformed into Lunar Eclipse and activated Shadow Dance, causing after images to appear and deflect even more shots. A number of shots got near the audience, but despite this many watched with rapt attention, waiting to see who would go first; Roxas missing a shot or Jak running out of ammo. At this point it was a weird standoff.

However, it seemed that neither situation would happen as the alarm sound again. The platforms began to sink, yet the two stood in their deadlock, daring the other to break the stalemate first. The magma was just about to touch their boots when both leapt away on to the main platform. Once on the main platform, Roxas dashed right at Jak with incredible speed, getting up close and slashing like crazy. Jak did his best to dodge and block, using his gun to divert some of the sword strikes. It was all the elf could do to keep from being sliced in two a nicks, cuts, and gouges on his gun started to add up. 'I don't want to do this, but this kid is leaving me no choice. I didn't survive the wasteland just to die here!' Jak thought violently as he began to transform.

Roxas immediately felt the wave of darkness as Jak changed. His body bulked out as his skin and hair became chalk white. Sharp, onyx claws appeared on his hands with sharp fangs growing as well. His eyes darkened to the point of becoming pitch black as he roared, dark Eco energy arcing off his body as he back handed his opponent before the Nobody had a chance to react. Roxas skidded across the arena a few meters before digging his Keyblades into the metal to catch himself before sliding into the molten rock. The boy's eyes widened at the creature Jak had become, not quite sure what he was seeing. However, he knew this was not going to be easy. "Well, if you want to bring out the beast, then let's go wild," he said more to himself than to anyone else as he reached within, bringing out the rage he felt from what happened to Xion to the forefront. "VENGEANCE!" he screamed as he also transformed. Demonic fire wrapped around him as his Keyblades shifted to Twilight Blaze and Lunar Eclipse. Black flames adorned his coat as it shifted to dark red with spikes appearing on his shoulders. His skin took on a draconic texture as his eyes started to burn within the darkness of his hood, smoke escaping where his mouth would be as he breathed.

Damas' eyes widened as both of the main fighters transformed into monsters. While he had seen Jak's dark Eco transformation before, Roxas' was something else entirely. While at first most would think this was a result of red Eco, but the king of Spargus knew better. This transformation was something else … something fueled by elements far more dangerous than mere Eco. Those weren't two warriors down there battling for honor. Those were two beasts ready to tear each other apart.

Daxter's eyes widened at the sight of the kid transforming just like Jak did. "Whoa, and I thought you were freaky," he said to Jak who barely seemed to register what the Ottsel Dark Eco coursed through his veins as he stared at the opposing … creature. While Jak was still in control, his rage blurred his thoughts, causing him to see only a Krimson guard, to only see Baron Praxis in front of him. Letting out an inhuman roar, he charged as the red, draconic creature who did the same, his swords blazing demonic flame and twisting shadows respectively.

The two creatures of rage clashed in the center of the area. Dark Jak slashing with obsidian claws cracking with energy while Vengeance Roxas countered with blades of fire and shadow. The crowd watched with rapt attention as they battled, their movements less like fighters and more like berserkers. Whenever the two connected, black and red energy arced into the surrounding magma, causing it to react and churn, like the sea in a rising storm. The other wastelanders stood as far away as possible from the two, preferring to let the monsters duke it out. The combat continued, energy spiraling all over until Vengeance Roxas crossed both blades, knocking Dark Jak away from him. Roaring in rage, the dark Eco infused elf ran towards his opponent, energy collecting in his fist as he moved to execute a Dark Bomb. His crimson opponent ran towards him as well, Keyblades flaring up as he spun to hit Dark Jak with the Vengeance version of his signature move, Infernal Stance. The two chaos charged moves connected in mid air, causing one hell of a reaction

A sphere of black energy emerged from the point of contact, engulfing both combatants, blood red energy shooting out and causing the magma to splash and rage as if in a hurricane, causing all the spectators to back away for their own safety. The sphere of energy lasted a good minute before suddenly shattering, sending both fighter flying in opposite directions as if shot out of a cannon. They crashed into opposite sides of the arena, slamming into the solid rock walls, making indentations of a foot or more.

The entire arena was dead silent, having never seen a clash like that before. Then … there was movement. Both creatures were groaning as they peeled themselves off of the walls, literally. Everyone could see that they would continue to go at it until one of them was dead or the arena was destroyed, whichever came first. Damas decided then that this fight had to end before it escalated too far. He stood up and addressed everyone. "That is enough! Both fighters have proven their worth and will each receive a battle amulet," he announced. The crowd cheered as both contenders reverted back to their normal forms, panting slightly from the clash. Both were unsure what to truly make of the other, only knowing that things had become much more interesting.

**Journal Entry Day 374**

**Eco**

A strange substance to be sure. The closest things I've ever encountered that resemble it are pure Darkness, Light, and the meta-essence of Wonderland, and even then they don't match the variety this stuff comes in. First there is Green Eco. This stuff heals anything and causes plants to grow in the weirdest places. Next is Blue Eco which is like electricity in a semi-liquid form. A shot of this and Demyx might actually be motivated to do something. Red Eco is based on physical power and is like fire you can channel. Next is Yellow Eco which acts like controllable kinetic force. It's most effective at long range. However, while these types are common, it is the last two types that are the most powerful.

The last two types, Dark Eco and Light Eco are by far the most potent types. Dark Eco seems to infest much of the land and creatures, specifically the things called metal-heads. The stuff is similar to pure Darkness but it seems almost … artificial in a way. Light Eco is the same. Both are powerful and have a lot of potential but don't feel natural to me. I'll have to keep my eyes and ears open for more information about this stuff.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 13: Day 377: Desert Days

It had been several days since Roxas had entered Spargus and the battle in the arena. Most people since then had kept him at arm's length, but they did respect him. The only ones he really hung out with were Jak and Daxter. Both were friendly enough as Jak reminded the Nobody of Xigbar a little bit in personality, though a little more toned down and lacking the backstabbing aspect. His ottsel friend reminded him of both Demyx and Larxene though more of the slacker sitar player than the sharp-tongued nymph. One good thing though, was that the two were able to help each other train their powers. Roxas helped Jak understand Darkness and subsequently Dark Eco. In turn Jak showed him better control specifically that of his Light based powers.

Currently the two were in a wide open area near the center of Spargus where Roxas was trying to learn to better control his Event Horizon ability. This area was perfect in that it was wide open and had both a Dark Eco vent and a Light Eco vent. This allowed them both to "recharge" and continue practicing without having to go hunting for Eco. Right now he was working on stamina and controlling multiple beams at once, making it so he could use it for longer than a few minutes or when he was in a weakened state. In front of him he controlled several shields emitting beams and moving in a pattern, almost like he was making them dance. He wanted to master his beams and Void Spheres before trying to create other objects out of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness. A few wastelanders had taken to watching the two them train as there was little else to do in Spargus that wasn't related to survival.

As he concentrated on sustaining the beams for as long as possible, his thoughts turned back to the massive insect battle back in Wonderland. He had used Event Horizon there without being too badly hurt, but had been drained afterwards. If he hadn't had supplies with him that could've ended much worse than it did. He was broken out of his musings by Daxter's voice piercing his ears. "Hey Rox, keep focused!" he yelled, bringing the Nobody back to reality. He saw that the beams were starting to randomly flicker in and out of existence. Shaking his head he concentrated back on the beams, forcing them to solidify. He had been at this for ten minutes straight now and was breathing hard as he tried to keep the beams active. He wanted to get to a point where he could use these instinctively and needed the stamina to do so. However despite his effort, the beams flickered out two minutes later. Roxas was panting hard as he tried to keep standing. Jak came over with a canteen, handing it to his companion. "Not bad Rox, held out longer that time," Daxter said as the Nobody took a drink.

Jak nodded in agreement, knowing that in battle every moment counted. Roxas had taught him much in the few days he had been here; specifically how to better manage his Dark Jak persona. While he still didn't know the Roxas' full story, he knew enough that he had gone through betrayal just Jak and Daxter had. "Keep this up and you'll be able to do parties," he said with a grin. Roxas just snorted at him with a grin of his own.

Both were interrupted by their communicators going off. "Looks like we got a mission," Roxas said as the communicator pointed towards the garage. Another thing Roxas was learning was how to drive various vehicles. While he wasn't quite as skilled as Jak, he was getting there as they found he picked up things very fast. Plus in the middle of the wasteland there was no such thing as traffic laws.

The two went to the garage only to be met by Damas and another wastelander. This guy was tall, with silver armor like that looked like it had been salvaged from Metalheads with his right eye replaced by some type of red optic device. "Sig?" Jak asked surprised as they entered.

"Jak? Daxter?" the tall man replied equally as stunned to see them. Last he had heard the two were working in the palace in Haven before it had been destroyed. "Well, don't you two look sorrier than ever? How'd you end up here?" he asked the two as Roxas watched curiously.

Daxter snorted, "The higher-ups in Haven didn't want any of Krew's old employees in the city after he sold them out. What about you?"

Damas decided to answer. "Sig has been a loyal spy for us in Haven for years."

"Spy?" Jak asked concerned.

"I'll tell you later," he mumbled before turning to Damas. "So what do you need us for?" he asked.

The king of Spargus nodded. "There is a nest of metalpedes not to far from here. They have been harassing our artifact carriers for some time. I want you three to drive into the heart of the nest and take out all the creatures you find. I'd say good luck, but it won't help you," he said with a chuckle before leaving the garage.

Sig got into the driver's side of a large armored vehicle, the Gila Stomper, while Jak and Daxter manned the turret on top with Roxas in shotgun. This thing was like an off-road tank, definitely built for combat. "Let's go boys," he said as he started the vehicle and headed out into the desert.

On the way Roxas glanced between Sig, Jak, and Daxter, knowing there was some history there. 'Probably like me and Axel,' the Nobody thought sourly as he remembered his old mission partner. While he was pretty sure where he stood with most of the Organization, Axel was a unique problem. The two had been close friends, as close as two Nobodies could be, and Axel had tried to look out for him and Xion, he had also kept secrets from Roxas, important secrets. 'If he had told me from the beginning who and what I was along with what Xion was then maybe things would've been different,' he thought sourly, ignoring the dusty wind blowing in his face. Still, unless he could find his way back to the World that Never Was or one of the worlds he had visited before; it was a moot point either way.

They eventually made it to the nest, which was sealed by metalhead eggs. Roxas watched with interest as Sig stood up and aimed his weapon. The thing charged up and released a massive blast of energy. Roxas eyes widened as he remembered that particular mod was called the Peacemaker. Now he knew why.

They drove in and shortly they were being assaulted by what looked like mutated fleas. They were quickly destroyed by the turret or by the Gila Stomper's tires. They drove deeper into the nest where the walls were covered in some type of sticky goop. Almost immediately they saw their first target, a metalhead egg generator, as well as the nest secondary defenses. More Metalheads, looking like four-winged, mutated bats appeared. Jak began shooting them down while Roxas stood up in the passenger side of the vehicle, hanging on with one arm while summoning Two Become One. Activating Aura Blade, he lashed out, making a clean slice and destroying the generator. "Nice hit, keep it up!" Sig yelled as he drove like a madman.

More Metalheads swarmed as they drove through the nest. Roxas lashed out with his Keyblade, the energy crackling as it whipped through multiple Metalheads before hitting another generator. However, with each generator he took out, an acidic green gas began to fill the cavern. "We gotta get out of here! The cavern's filling with gas!" Daxter yelled as they took out another generator.

The Aura Blade slashed the last generator. "That's the last one, let's move!" They drove with wild abandon, desperate to get out of the cave before the gas claimed them. The Metalheads, that were unaffected by the poison, tried to keep them in. Roxas slashed at any that got too close while Jak went to town with the turret. More and more of the metallic creatures swarmed around the Gila Stomper as they made their way to the exit. Suddenly a large metalpede erupted from the side of the cavern, roaring in pain and rage.

Daxter screamed, "Ahhh! Looks like momma's a little ticked off!"

"Yea think!?" Roxas yelled as he jumped up on the back of the off-road vehicle, crouching low and hanging onto the framework so as to not be thrown off. Despite Jak letting loose with the machine gun and Daxter doing what he could with the morph gun, neither were doing much more than pissing off the creature even further. Roxas tried the Aura Blade, but the thing's natural metallic hide made it mostly ineffective, only slowing it down somewhat and pissing it off even more. Even worse; it was hard to use his Keyblade like this while hanging on for dear life as they sped towards the exit. The greater Nobody then got an idea. Quickly he dismissed his weapon in a flash of light much to the surprise of Jak and Daxter. He then held out his hand and concentrated, creating a Void Sphere. While not quite large as the ones he produced in his Void Form back in Dark Wonderland, it was still dangerous and he hoped the unique energy would be effective against the Dark Eco infused metalhead. He launched the crackling sphere. When it hit the metalpede it had an immediate effect. The creature reeled back in pain, having never encountered Nothingness before and thus had no natural defense for it.

"Wahoo that hurt 'em! Nail him again!" Daxter yelled out. Roxas smirked and did just that, launching more Void Spheres at the creature, causing it to fall behind a good distance as they finally made it out of the cave. As they sped out, Roxas threw one last Void Sphere at the top of the entrance, causing a cave in and sealing the creatures within.

Sig drove the vehicle a short ways before hitting the brake and bringing them to a stop outside of the cavern. "Man what a rush!" the big man said as he gave Jak a high-five before turning to Roxas. "Nice work back there chili-pepper. You're just full of surprises aren't you?" he said jovially.

Roxas just smirked again. "When you travel a lot, you tend to pick up a few things," he said simply, causing the other three to chuckle.

"Well I've had enough action for one day. Let's head back and get some grub, I'm starving," Daxter complained. Before any of them could agree however, a beeping came from Jak's communicator. "Now what?" the Ottsel said annoyed.

His blonde companion ignored him as he flipped on the communicator. A woman's voice came over it, one Roxas didn't recognize but apparently Jak, Daxter, and Sig did. "Jak, this is Ashelin. I'm glad you're still alive. I see Damas still keeps track of his old beacons. Listen, I need to see you immediately. I've landed out by the Oasis but I don't have much time. Please come find me," the woman said.

The four looked at each other with Roxas being confused. "Old girlfriend?" he asked half-heartedly, causing Sig to snort and Daxter to get a weird dreamy look in his eye.

"She's the Baroness of Haven City and is currently fighting a war against the Metalheads and a group called the Krimson Guard. Her father was the one who … ordered the experiments that pumped Dark Eco into me," Jak said with a little bit of repressed anger. He sighed before continuing. "She's also the one who gave me the distress beacon. Without that, me and Dax would've died in the desert," he explained.

Sig piped up then, "If that's the case then I think we should at least hear her out. Besides, I want to know what's been happening in Haven since I left." Roxas nodded in agreement, interested in meeting this Baroness.

"Why were you in Haven anyway if you're one of Damas' men?" Daxter asked.

"I'll tell you later," Sig replied gruffly, ending any further questioning.

Roxas raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as the group sped off towards the oasis. Apparently there was more going on here then he thought. In the back of his mind he could hear the Cheshire Cat's words from before. "Some sides belonging to more than one player and some players belonging to more than one side. As to who's a player and who's a piece, I'll leave you to figure that out." Apparently he wasn't the only one who needed to figure who was who.

They quickly arrived at the Oasis where it looked like a type of ship was parked with a woman with short red hair was waiting. Stopping the vehicle, Jak and Daxter went ahead while Sig and Roxas hung back a little, both to keep watch and to stay out of private matters, though both were curious. Daxter, of course, was the first one to open his mouth. "Hey baby, you thought you dumped me huh? I knew you'd be back for some orange loving," he said arrogantly while slapping his behind. He then pointed to his face, "Get a good look, it's the last time you're ever going to see it."

Ashelin just scowled at the orange rodent before turning to Jak, ignoring the two that had come with them. "Jak, it's good to see you," she started before Daxter interrupted her.

"Listen toots; you left us in the desert! So talk to the tail, cause the whiskers ain't listening," he ranted before turning around. "We out Jak."

Jak just more or less ignored him before speaking. "That beacon you gave me … thanks," he said simply.

She smiled, "I knew Damas would find you. He doesn't miss much in this desert."

That raised a couple eyebrows. "How do you know him?"

The red-haired woman shook her head, "It doesn't matter now. Jak I need you to come back to the city. We're losing the fight. Veger is drunk on power and has taken command. He doesn't understand what he's up against. I need you to …" however she didn't get to finish when a squad of marauders came barreling over the sand dune.

"Heads up! We got company!" Sig yelled as he readied his gun and Roxas summoned his Keyblades. Jak also brought out his morph gun and started to take out the marauders that jumped out of the vehicles to attack them on foot while Roxas and Sig went after the vehicles themselves.

With shots flying every which way, Ashelin was surprised to see the black cloaked figure taking down the marauders with a pair of swords of all things. Even more surprised to see small shields of light appearing in mid-air and shooting beams of light, cutting through the targets that tried to stay out of range of his swords. They kept flickering in and out of existence, staying just long enough to do damage before disappearing again. A couple of beams slashed through the axels on one of the enemies cars, causing the tires to fall away and the rest of the car to smash into the ground. Another beam simply bisected a car, causing the two halves to go in different directions, which would have been funny if she hadn't been fighting for her life at the moment. 'Who is this kid?' she thought as she blasted a couple more of their attackers.

Sig was also watching as the black-cloaked boy ripped through vehicle after vehicle. He had heard about this kid but had yet to see him in action. The wastelander had thought the rumors of kid swordsman skills were wild rumors, but from the look of it they had understated what this kid was capable of. He'd have to keep an eye on this kid.

In short order the marauders were all wiped out, leaving them to resume their conversation. Ashelin walked back to her ship, pulling out a large disk like object. Roxas wasn't sure what it was. He'd ask about it later. "Keira wanted you to have this. Jak, your friends need you. I … need you," she said softly, hoping to convince the hero to return

The look on the blonde elf's face told her that she was having no luck. "The city threw me out remember? They can rot for all I care!" he declared forcefully.

Immediately she tried to plead with him. "But what about …"

"Forget it!" he interrupted much to the shock of Daxter and Sig, though Roxas only raised an eyebrow from under his hood. He understood betrayal well enough to know that Jak was still sore about being left to die. "I have new friends now."

The red head sighed sadly. "So the hero I knew did die in the desert, or was it long before then? Don't you remember who you are?" she asked while handing him something. From what Roxas could see, it was a small red medallion. From the way Jak looked at it, Roxas could tell it was important.

He looked away. "I'm through saving the world." Ashelin sighed and got into her ship, flying away without her hero.

Jak walked back, ignoring the looks from Daxter, Sig and Roxas. He wordlessly got in the Gila Stomper as Sig drove them back to Spargus. None of them said anything, their minds going over what Ashelin had told them. Apparently Haven was in trouble and they wanted their hero again but Jak wasn't willing to stick his neck out for them at the moment. The greater Nobody could understand that after his experience with the Organization. He had been a lot less willing to collect hearts once he found they were willing to drop him for another they believed was more controllable. Being abandoned was not something that was easily forgotten or forgiven.

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

That night Roxas sat on one of the many stone buildings, staring at the stars. He couldn't sleep. Jak's actions today with Ashelin had reminded him of his times with Axel. Like Ashelin, Axel had wanted to Roxas to stay even though it was obvious that others did not. Still, he wondered just what exactly was going on. "Say Cat, what do you think about what happened?" he seemingly asked to night.

As expected, the Cheshire Cat appeared his bloodstained grin in place as always. "Anything may be betrayed, yet anyone may be forgiven, but not those who lack the courage of their own greatness. While Jak tries to hide it, he is inexplicably tied Haven and its people. Eventually his path with draw him back." The Cat then looked down, drawing the greater Nobody's attention. He saw Jak and Daxter heading towards the garage. Roxas raised an eyebrow, wondering where he was going. Usually Damas paired them together as their powers made them a dangerous team. Watching Jak head out, he turned back to the demonic cat. "Let your need guide your behavior. Suppress your instinct to lead. Pursue the orange weasel," he said before fading away again.

Roxas sighed before pulling up his hood and jumping down to follow Jak. After tailing Pete back in Agrabah and finding the Cave of Wonders, he absently wondered what following Jak would lead to.

**Journal Entry Day 377**

**Metalheads**

Even after the metalpede nest, I still don't know what to think of these lizard/insect things. They are creatures that live in or off of dark Eco. So much of it, that I'm surprised that they haven't already become Heartless. At times they seem to be little more than wild beasts, other times they show a disturbing amount of intelligence, certainly more than Heartless. These things certainly are not natural. I'll have to be careful around them.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some –exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 14: Day 378: Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel

Roxas drove through darkened desert in the Sand Shark, following Jak who for some reason had taken the Dune Hopper. That alone raised some questions to Roxas. Normally, Jak's vehicle of choice was the Sand Shark due to being a good all-around vehicle. The Dune hopper on the other hand was built more for going over tough terrain. 'So where is he going that he would need that kind of mobility?' he wondered as he followed the blonde elf and orange ottsel. He kept driving southeast of Spargus until they reached a small chain of islands leading to a larger island by itself. While the Sand Shark was able to jump a couple of the gaps, it couldn't keep going while the Dune Hopper made giant leaps across the open water, making it to the lone island without a problem. Roxas stopped the vehicle, knowing he'd have to glide to the island in order to follow. 'Well that answers one question, but raises so many others,' he thought to himself as he leaped as high as he could before gliding forward across the water towards the island.

He eventually got across and made his way to the interior of the island. When he did he noticed there was carved stone here, much like a temple or something. 'Okay, this is getting to be way too much like the Cave of Wonders,' he thought as he made his way deeper into the temple. He could tell this place was ancient given the cobwebs and dust. It looked to have been grand at one time but had long since fallen into disrepair. Eventually he made his way through a door with a blue and purple glowing symbol above it that bore a resemblance to Jak's amulet. 'Curiouser and curiouser,' he thought as he continued on. Deeper he went, the only light coming from torches and candles.

He noticed on the walls were some depictions of strange creatures, humanoid but with large, round eyes and nose/mouth extensions, similar to insects like butterflies or dragonflies. The Nobody eventually came to room with a massive statue depicting one of those same beings. However, Roxas was cautious as the thing's eyes were glowing with what looked like Light Eco. In his experience, anything that glowed like that you should be wary of. His experience was proven right when the thing started to speak.

Its voice was low as the statue seemed to eye Roxas with suspicion, though how a statue could do that he had no idea. "You should not be here … Nobody," it stated causing Roxas to immediately go on alert and summon Two Become One and Rejection of Fate. This seemed to cause an almost surprised reaction from the statue. "Yet you can summon Keyblades. Who are you? What are your intentions for this world?" it asked seriously.

Deciding that he had little to lose, Roxas dismissed his Keyblades and introduced himself. "My name is Roxas and to put it simply, I'm lost." He could almost feel the statue raising an eyebrow in interest at him. "I am the Nobody of a Keyblade master. I was taken in by a group of greater Nobodies called Organization XIII. They wanted to use me to collect hearts for them to create Kingdom Hearts in order to be whole again," he stated causing the statue's eyes to widen and glow brighter.

"So someone has attempted to recreate Kingdom Hearts? Was it completed?" the statue asked urgently.

Roxas shook his head. "No, I don't think so. They betrayed me and then attempted to have me replaced, destroyed, or forcibly merged back with my Somebody. I escaped from both them and their enemy, having no allegiance to any of them. However, the Corridor of Chaos I used eventually dumped me in the middle of wasteland. Now I can't get back to that world to undo what I helped create," he explained.

It was silent for a few moments before the statue spoke again. "Perhaps we can help each other. As you have seen, the Dark Ones approach this world with the intent to destroy it. We would ask that you aid us in defending this world and preventing its destruction. In return, we would grant you the means to find your way back to the false Kingdom Hearts to undo it." It was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Do we have a bargain?" it asked the greater Nobody.

Roxas stood and bowed his head in thought. While he was cautious about making deals with large, talking statues, he had to admit that he had few options at this point. Without some way to guide the Chaos Corridors or trace his path back, he'd just be warping randomly throughout time and space. Besides, what the … statue was asking for wasn't totally unreasonable. It wanted his help in saving this world. Besides, what did he have to lose at this point? He looked at the statue in the eyes before speaking. "All right, I'll help out in saving this world if you keep your end of the bargain to help me get back to the World that Never Was."

The statue's eyes flashed again as a spotlight of Light Eco with a spiral of Dark Eco shown from above in front of him. A beam shot behind him and snagged his morph gun, bringing it into the spotlight. The morph gun was compacted and twisted into something else, something smaller. For a moment Roxas thought he had been betrayed again when he saw it form into something, a keychain. It was in the same shape as Jak's amulet, black metal outlining it with dark and light Eco crystal forming a yin-yang symbol like the one he had seen at the entrance. The statue spoke again. "Agreed. In honor of our bargain, we offer what power we can to aid you. Go forth Keyblade warrior, head to Haven City, the catacombs below will grant you passage," it explained before falling silent.

Roxas reached forward and grabbed the keychain. Summoning a Kingdom Keyblade he attached the new keychain and immediately there was a reaction. The Keyblade erupted in light and dark Eco energy. Once the transformation kicked in, Roxas immediately had to brace himself and grab the new Keyblade with both hands. He looked down to see his morph gun, sort of. The main housing and the barrel of the gun now extended from a metal ring that was the guard. It looked like the handle could rotate to adjust to whatever mode the weapon was changed to. The teeth of the Keyblade were represented by a larger copy of the keychain, glowing softly with dark and light Eco. Lifting it up, he got a good look at his new Keyblade, Eco Surge, before turning to look at the platforms that were spinning. He knew to get down to the catacombs he would have to get to the other side. Looking at his Keyblade, he became thoughtful. 'Well, might as well see what this thing can really do,' he thought as he started to channel a bit of Light into the weapon.

Almost immediately it caused a reaction. The light Eco crystal on the Keyblade flared brightly, in turn causing a reaction with Roxas himself. His eyes widened as he was covered in a light blue and white aura, making it seem as if he were made of some type of crystal. The Nobody could feel his Light powers surging, begging for release. Deciding to try out his temporarily enhanced abilities, Roxas surged forward in a flash of light, to the first spinning platform, everything around him slowing to a crawl for a moment before using his Flash Rush ability again to get to the next platform and eventually to the other side. "I could get used to this," he said as he looked at the weapon. He then noticed that the light Eco crystal on it was slowly draining, almost like an energy meter. "Looks like this only lasts so long, better make the most of it," he said as he used his Flash Rush ability to full effect, moving through the temple at incredible speed.

As he left the room he didn't notice the eyes of the statue glow, watching the Nobody wearily as he left, wondering if it made the right decision to involve a creature like him.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Jak and Daxter made their way through the sewer. After meeting with the Precursor statue, going through the railways, the mines, meeting Vulger, Vader, Veger, whatever his name was, and meeting Keira and Samos again, they were now trudging through the sewers, making their way towards the port. Unfortunately it was infested with more Metalheads. Daxter complained as they made their way through. "Oh man, this is even worse than the time we came down here for Mar's statue," the orange furred creature said irritably. "It's too bad the council took all our passes when they threw us out." The rodent then got an idea. "Hey, maybe we should've brought Roxas, didn't he say that key of his can open any door?" he asked.

Jak nodded, "Yeah he did mention that. But I don't think it would be a good idea for him to get involved. He has his own problems," he said quietly as he took out another couple of Metalheads before moving on.

"Ah come on, we both know he can keep up, you saw what he did to those marauders," the ottsel argued.

"Not the problem. Remember what he said earlier, he has his own revenge to accomplish. After Praxis, I can understand that," the blonde elf replied, trudging through the murky water. Revenge was something Jak could understand very well. Even now that Praxis was dead; he still had a lot of anger issues due to the dark Eco experiments and more recently being thrown out of the city. Also while he respected Roxas and the two shared a common bond through the powers they wielded, he still didn't know enough about the guy to truly trust him.

"But we need all the help we can get," Daxter replied.

Before Jak could respond another voice cut in. "Besides, how do you know your problems haven't already become his problems?" Immediately, Jak went on alert, scanning the area for something to shoot while Daxter started looking around frantically. Slowly gazing around the room, they heard a sinisterly odd voice chuckling, but they couldn't determine where it was coming from due to the echo. It continued for a couple of moment before a definite voice spoke behind them. "You're quite on edge aren't you?" it said calmly.

Jak whirled around pointing his weapon at … a grin? It was a large twisted grin just floating in mid-air, with sharp fangs and a few stains of blood. "Bwaaa! Jak, what is that?" Daxter cried out as he hid behind his larger friend.

A strange mist swirled around a solidified into the body of a cat, a very twisted, demonic cat. Jak eyed it wearily, having never seen something like this before. "Purrrfect, when you're not on edge you're taking up too much space," it stated calmly with its tail lashing behind it. The wastelander didn't lower his weapon. While what was in front of him was obviously not a metalhead and he didn't sense any dark Eco, he still was cautious.

"Who are you and what do you want," Jak asked cautiously.

The grin just stayed in place as the feline spoke. "Just to pass on a little knowledge. As they say, knowledge is power and for this battle you will need as much as you can get. Tell me, do you know who ruled Haven before Praxis?" the cat asked calmly.

The two dark Eco infused wastelanders looked at each other before Daxter responded carefully. "No … why?"

The cat chuckled again before speaking. "The original ruler was banished just as you were due to the metalhead war. After which there was only one royal family member left in the city, but was lost in the chaos of war," the cat said much to the surprise of the two.

"So the original ruler was dumped in the desert like us, what a way to go," Daxter commented as he remembered nearly dying out there himself until Damas found them.

"Who said he went?" the cat replied cryptically.

Jak then realized what this weird creature was hinting at. "Wait, if the original ruler was banished and Praxis took over, what happened to the heir?" he asked as a few memories flittered through his mind of Krew, Ashelin, and Praxis himself all mentioning putting someone back on the throne, a kid from the way some of them talked. If the kid was still around, why were Veger and the council still in power? Many of them had said that Jak past self had been the heir, but there was no real proof of that other than the seal he had been carrying at the time.

The demonic cat just chuckled, unnerving both of them a little bit. "Let's just say the heir has been a little … displaced. For now you have much more pressing matters, such as the survival of this city against the Metalheads and the Krimson Guard."

Daxter snorted, "No kidding. Two enemies at once, double the fun and double the trouble."

"Are you facing two enemies … or one enemy with two very different weapons?" the cat replied. "In any case time grows short at the day star gets closer. Find your friends and drive back the metal and crimson hordes."

Jak continued to eye the twisted feline, not sure of what to make of it or its cryptic information. "Why are you helping us?" he asked carefully.

The cat only chuckled again as it started to fade away into mist. "My interests are my own and are in line with Roxas' interests that have recently become in line with your interests. Suffice it to say that it is in everyone's interests that this war end and the day star stopped. We will meet again Jak and Daxter," it said before fading away all together.

The two looked at each other confused and then back at the spot where the cat had been, half expecting it to appear again. "Roxas has some SERIOUS explaining to do when we see him again," Daxter stated loudly. Jak just nodded in agreement before the two moved on, still getting the chills from meeting the Cheshire Cat, not knowing that a large, feral grin was still floating behind them as they left, before fading away a moment later.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Roxas trudged alone through the mines. After taking the Precursor rails he had ended up in these old Eco mines, taking out any Metalheads along the way. This placed looked old, not ancient like the temple had been, but more like an abandoned building that only a few bothered to keep up. 'Man this place is huge, how much further is this stupid city?' he thought as he made his way deeper into the mines. He eventually came to a room with two large statues, similar to the one he had spoken to back at the temple. There was an empty space in between them that looked like it had once supported a third statue. Noticing a door on the other side he continued on his way until he heard a rumble. "Now what?" he asked out loud only to get an answer he didn't expect.

Both the statues seemed to react to his presence, breaking away from the wall and revealing that they were actually robots. Roxas summoned Eco Surge, immediately switching it to Blaster mode, not sure what would work of these things. The two robots flew to opposite sides of the room, trying to surround the one they perceived as an intruder. "Just my luck," he muttered.

He absently sensed the appearance of the Cheshire Cat. "The bigger they are the harder they fall," he said with his standard grin.

Roxas snorted, "Yeah right, got any useful information?"

The cat just chuckled. "The greatest weakness of any power is the power itself. Turn their advantage of numbers and power against them," he said before fading away once again.

Both of the robots extended their arms, regaining Roxas' attention and shot out strange blue orbs that changed into attack drones. Wanting to save his ammo, he dismissed Eco Surge and summoned Twilight Blaze and Two Becomes One. The drones looked disturbingly like Metalheads, which actually made it easier for Roxas to take them out.

However, the precursor robots weren't going to just sit there and watch him take out their drones. Each robot produced five laser emitters from their back and fired them all over the stone arena, nearly catching the Nobody in the crossfire. The beams had a weird reaction with the bedrock, causing pillars of heated stone to shoot up at various heights. Reacting quickly, Roxas jumped from one pillar to the next before launching himself at one of the robots. He landed on its face and dug into the machine's eye unit with his Keyblades. The robot thrashed to get him off, but he would not come loose. Thinking quickly, he launched a Firaga at the second robot, hitting it in the face. Automatically reacting to the attack; the second robot deployed a cannon on its arm and fired on Roxas. This was just as he wanted as he jumped out of the way, the shots hitting the first robot. Just like the first robot, the second immediately reacted and started firing on what had attacked it, hitting its companion and doing equal damage.

Both robots fell down into the cavern below as Roxas jumped off back onto the main pillar. However both of them returned, hovering on opposite sides of the room and looked like they had taken some damage. Both machines drew a device from their backs that extended, becoming long crimson beam sabers. They started to slam the ground with them, sending out waves of lethal red Eco. Roxas leapt into the air and used his glide ability to hover above the ground, letting the red waves pass by harmlessly. This was no different than the time he faced the Dustflier. That thing had caused waves in a similar fashion so Roxas knew how to avoid attacks like this. "You'll have to do better than that," he said with a smirk.

The robots seemed to narrow their eyes at him as one started to slash its blade horizontally while the other did it vertically. Roxas dropped to the ground and dodged to the side as the precursor machines tried to take him out with red sabers. Thinking quickly, he summoned back Eco Surge and took aim at the robot whose eye he had damaged. Switching to Vulcan Fury mode, he unleashed hell, aiming for that eye. A few shots made it through, causing the thing to flail again, the beam saber cutting into the bedrock around them. While that was happening, he ran towards the other robot, getting in close. "Hey, over here!" he yelled, causing the blinded robot to slash at the sound.

Roxas jumped out of the way just as the blade came, hitting the second robot in the arm, lopping it off completely. Landing in the center of the stone platform, he stood watching for the next attack. Both machines reoriented themselves and openly glared at Roxas before attacking again, this time the stone platform itself. It crumbled and collapsed until there was only a single pillar left for Roxas to stand on. "Oh crap," he muttered as he saw them both of them pull out their sabers again. Both swung horizontally at Roxas from opposite sides. Thinking quickly he activated Light Eco Aura, causing the Light Eco crystal on the gun to light up again. He created two thick beams of light on either side, blocking the sabers.

Sparks flew as the robots pressed harder to break through the beams. Getting a risky idea, Roxas changed the angles of the beams. He angled one beam to move above him while the other was angled towards below. The two sabers slid along the beams, one going above Roxas and other going below. The beam blades each cut through the opposing robot; one got slashed through the neck and other through the torso. However, the beam that went through the robot's guts also went through the pillar he was standing on. Jumping off the platform, he glided to the door on the other side as they both fell and exploded.

The Nobody shielded himself as metal parts went flying everywhere. Once everything had settled he looked around, seeing the shrapnel now embedded in the walls. "Damn, what else can happen?" he asked out loud.

Once again The Cheshire Cat appeared, grin shining in the darkness as he looked at the various metal parts strewn around the cave. "Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is its answer. It seems you made quite a mess. Well, only good manners to pick up after yourself," he said as he gazed specifically at a piece that had landed near Roxas. "Remember, always collect what you can. Reject only your ignorance, and you may survive to the true endgame," he said before fading away again. Taking the hint, he picked up the device and attached it to Eco Surge, gaining the Arc Wielder. With that he continued on, determined to catch up with Jak and Daxter.

**Journal Entry Day 378**

**Keyblade: Eco Surge (Key gun)**

**Strength: 95 Magic: 50 Defense: 6 Critical %: 20 Bonus: 18**

**Passive Ability: Sure Shot**

**Trigger Ability: Gun-Modes**

**Omega Ability: Eco Aura**

This Keyblade is of both Dark and Light based on long distance fighting. It is extremely adaptable due to its ability to change modes and for the abilities it grants. The passive ability is Sure Shot, which gives the user an extreme boost in shooting accuracy. It should be noted however that this is simply an enhancement; it cannot make a sniper out of someone who's never held a gun before. The trigger ability is the Gun-Modes. This is what makes this weapon versatile and deadly at long range combat. It has four primary modes with three sub-modes each totaling 12 different modes, with it able to be used as a melee weapon in 4 of those modes.

The first is Red mode, base on red Eco. This mode was made for use in close combat again large groups of enemies. The first mode is Scatter Shot, which is a short, wide-spread shotgun blast. The second mode is the Wave Concussor, which sends out a 360 degree shockwave from the user. These two forms also allow the Keyblade to be used as a standard sword as the tooth is still active in these forms. In the third form the tooth folds up into the gun. The last mode is the Plasmite RPG, which simply put is a grenade launcher, good for taking out groups from a distance.

Yellow mode is based on yellow Eco and is focus on accurate, long range attacks. The first form is the Blaster which acts as a basic rifle. The Beam Reflexor is an upgraded version that allows the shots to bounce off obstacles, causing more damage and hitting more targets. Like the Red mode, these two forms allow it to also be used as melee weapon, specifically a long sword due to the extended barrel. The last form of the Yellow mode is the Gyro Buster which launches a saucer shaped drone that pelts an area with blaster shots.

The third primary mode is Blue mode, which is powered by blue Eco. This mode was made for long distance, rapid fire attacks that will mow down enemies. The starting mode is the Vulcan Fury, which acts as a standard machine gun. The second mode is the Arc Wielder. This mode fires a beam of pure electricity that will fry whatever it hits. The final sub-mode is the Needle Laser which fires energy-seeking bolts of energy at a rapid pace, making it deadly against large, spread out groups.

The final primary mode is Purple mode, based on lethal dark Eco and thus made for widespread destruction. The first sub-mode is known simply as the Peacemaker and for good reason. It fires spheres of electrically charged particles of dark Eco that while fry anything they hit along with whatever is near the target at the time. The second sub-mode, despite also being based on dark Eco, is actually the least lethal mode this weapon has. The Mass Inverter is a tactical weapon that sends out waves of anti-gravity throughout the area, causing those caught in the wave to float around helpless. The effect is temporary, only affects the immediate area, and doesn't do any actual damage, but it can be useful in tight situations. The last mode of this weapon is the Super Nova, which launches a small rocket of condensed dark Eco which basically wipes out everything in an area, causing massive damage. This last mode rounds out the Gun-Mode abilities for the Keyblade, making it adaptable to almost any situation.

Last but not least is the Omega ability, Eco Aura. This ability coats the user in Light or Dark Eco, enhancing any and all abilities related to the element. For example, if Roxas used his Event Horizon ability white coupled with Light Eco Aura, the he could create more beams than normal along with the beams themselves being thicker and more powerful. On the other hand if he tried to use the Shadow Dance ability while using Dark Eco Aura, then there would be more after images and they would be at equal power rather than just half power.

However, despite the versatility and power of this Keyblade, it does have some major drawbacks. The first of which is its weight. Because of all the different modes and ammo, this Keyblade is much heavier than many others, making it very unwieldy to use with one hand. As a result, unless the user strength trains to handle the weight, this Keyblade usually requires two hands to use. Another problem related to the weight is the mode shifting. When the weapon shifts from one mode to another, it also shifts the weight of the weapon, throwing off the balance and forcing the user to adjust on the fly. Another problem is ammo. While each of the primary modes has their own ammo supply, that supply is limited and can be quickly drained by the second or third sub-modes. Even more of a problem is reloading. While each mode's ammo gradually restores itself, it takes time and the more it's drained the longer it takes to restore. This forces the user to use the ammo creatively, allowing one mode to replenish while using another. Each mode also has its own drawbacks that the user needs to keep in mind. Red mode has a slow rate of fire, the Gyro Buster and Needle Laser modes target anything that isn't the user, even allies, and the Peacemaker and Super Nova modes have massive splash damage that can take out allies as easily as enemies. The last major drawback of this weapon is that the Eco Aura only enhances abilities related to Light and Dark and reduces any other abilities not related to Light or Dark or are neutral in nature. This means that abilities that are elemental based, such as fire, ice, electric, etc. are all weakened somewhat while abilities based on the opposite are weakened severely. An example of this would be if Roxas tried to use Event Horizon while Dark Eco Aura was active, then he would have to put in at least double the effort to create the same number of beams he normally would. Despite these drawbacks, Eco Surge is a powerful weapon and in the hands of a skilled user can be deadly on the battlefield, even more so if combined with other specific Keyblades.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 15: Day 379: Viva la Resistance

At the Port in Haven City a manhole opened up. A black gloved hand shot out, followed by a black-coated arm, and finally a black-coated Nobody. Dripping with slime, grease, oil, and Void knows what else; Roxas pulled himself out of the sewer. After beating the robots he had finally made his way into the sewer system of Haven city. Needless to say he had gotten horribly lost and had spent the remainder of the night wandering the sewers, killing Metalheads, and trudging through muck that smelled worse than the Leechgrave he had faced in Halloween Town. He stepped into the sunlight of morning, covering his face as he did so. 'What a night,' he thought as he trudged over to the metal wall, sat down and rested. 'I chased Jak and Daxter through the desert, made a deal with a statue, explored a massive mine, fought two giant robots, and trudged through sewers filled with gunk that I'm never going to get out of my coat all the while fighting off cave beasts and Metalheads. What else can happen?' he thought as he got a good look at the Haven city's port.

It was dismal to say the least. Most of it looked like it had seen better days. High metal walls outlined the perimeter with murky water filling the bay. All around he could see the remains of Metalheads, red armored robots, and what looked to be blue armored soldiers. Really, the only impressive thing about the port was the sheer size of it. It seemed like all of Twilight Town could fit in this one area of the city alone. "I wonder what this place would've looked like in its heyday," he said out loud to himself.

The people around didn't look much better. Many were dressed in torn rags, looking little better than the wastelanders he had seen back in Spargus. Most of the people appeared tired and not just physically. They seemed just weary of even being there, others acted more paranoid as if they expected to be attacked at any time. 'Then again, given the Metalheads and the Krimson Guard, I can understand why,' he thought absently. "Now for the fun job of tracking down those two guys, especially after going through a sewer all night. This is probably going to take all day," he said to himself out loud.

As soon as he said that he noticed a loud screaming that he recognized. He turned to his side just in time to see a missile go by with a familiar orange rodent riding on top of it. Roxas just stood there blinking for a few moments before speaking. "Or about 5 seconds," he mumbled before running after the rocket.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Daxter hung onto the rocket for dear life as he angled the thing towards the Krimson Guard barrier. He would get Torn for this. Seeing as he was about to crash into it, he jumped off, the missile taking out the barrier in a massive explosion. Debris was flying everywhere as Daxter stood up and dusted himself off, thinking he got away unscathed only to have a piece of the debris fall right on top of him. A few moments later he moaned as Jak removed the offending piece of barrier. "I can never win can I?" he asked rhetorically to which Jak just gave weary grin as he placed his orange companion back on his shoulder before making his way back to the Naughty Ottsel.

They entered the bar which sported a giant likeness of Daxter with a pitchfork and a pair of devil horns on the outside. Inside; the once restaurant had been converted into a makeshift military command post. Standing in the center was another elf with dark red hair, tattoos on his face, and a red scarf in a commando outfit. "Nice work, but we've got more problems. Super range sniper cannons are keeping my men pinned down. Jak, you need to find those cannons and take them out. There's sure to be an enemy counter attack when they see what you're up to," the commander known as Torn said. He then grinned, "You know the drill."

The ottsel snorted, "Yeah, we do all the work, you get all the credit!"

A new voice cut in at that point. "No rest for the weary I see." Both elves turned to see a young man in a stained and dirty black coat with dark blonde hair and a tired look in his blue eyes.

"Roxas!?" Daxter exclaimed surprised. "How in the heck did you get here?" the ottsel asked as the Nobody entered. Jak was just as surprised as Daxter to see their fellow wastelander here while Torn eyed the newcomer with suspicion.

He sighed tiredly before answering, "I've been following you two ever since you left Spargus. I've been across the desert, through some ruins, traveled an underground rail system, navigated some mines, fought two giant Precursor robots, void knows how many Metalheads, and just spent the last several hours being lost in this city's sewer system. So I've had a long night."

Jak and Daxter looked at each other before turning back to the tired looking Nobody. "Ok, but why did you follow us in the first place?" Jak asked cautiously.

The boy shrugged before answering. "At first it was to see what you two were up to since you were sneaking out of the city in the middle of the night. However, I ran into a large, glowing-eyed statue that talked and it offered me a deal."

"Statue? You mean you made a deal with the Precursors?" Daxter said astonished, catching Torn's attention who was now eyeing the kid with even greater interest.

Roxas nodded. "Yep. In exchange for helping save this planet, they'd help me find a way home. So I guess you're stuck with me," he said with a grin. "So what's this about sniper cannons?" he asked.

Narrowing his eyes, Torn brought up a map of the industrial sector of the city, or what was left of it anyway, showing various spots marked with red dots. "The cannons marked here are preventing our soldiers from getting through this section of the city. Since you're here to help, you go with Jak and watch his back as he takes them out. After that, we'll see what we can do with you." Roxas nodded and headed out following Jak.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

At Freedom Headquarters in the center of the city, Ashelin looked over the various skirmishes that were happening throughout the city. She sighed, wondering how things had gotten like this in a year since her father had been killed and dethroned. While she did miss him and knew what he did was for the betterment of the city, he had still been a dictator and his dealings with the Metalheads had nearly caused the city to fall. 'It may do so anyway if we can't get rid of the Metalheads and the KG robots,' she thought sourly. To think this had all really happen in the last month more or less.

After Praxis' fall a year ago, the city had been rebuilding, pulling itself together to recover from the metalhead invasion. It had been going well. For starters the slums were gone and replaced with new buildings and apartments and was also where Freedom HQ was. People were actually starting to have hope now under her rule with Samos the Sage as a guide and Jak and Daxter as the people's heroes, things were going good. Then a month or so ago things went south. Metalheads had somehow breached the northwest area of the barrier, causing the start of their problems. The KG robots had also started attacking around that time, which was suspicious due to the timing. Now the city was in chaos again. The upper class district was now in ruins, the bazaar was gone, the gardens were now turned into a small metalhead hive, and the coliseum was a crater, and to top it all off Mar's tomb was buried under the remains of the palace that had been attacked and destroyed over a week ago. "If we get out of this it'll be miracle," she muttered to herself. She was suddenly broken out of her thoughts by the communication system. "This is Freedom HQ," she said officially as the holographic head of Torn appeared. "Torn, what's your status?" she asked

"We've broken through the first KG barrier and are now working on thinning the enemy ranks to make an attempt at the second. Jak and Daxter are already working on the sniper cannons that were keeping us pinned down," the field commander reported.

The red-head nodded. "Good, with Jak back in the city we have a much better chance of surviving this madness."

Torn was quiet for a moment before he started speaking. "There's something else. Someone followed Jak all the way from the Wasteland." This caught Ashelin's attention. While there were a few wastelanders who snuck back into the city from time to time, such as the mercenary Sig, most didn't bother due to the chaos of the war. "Some kid, dark blonde hair, blue eyes, wears a black trench coat with a hood and weird symbol on the back. Said his name was Roxas."

"Roxas is here?" Pecker spoke up surprised.

"You know him?" Torn asked.

The monkey-bird nodded. "He's a wastelander that recently entered Spargus. No-one's quite sure where he came from or even what he is, but he's powerful."

Ashelin nodded in agreement, remembering the fight in the wasteland. "I've seen him fight; he's a close combat type but is just as powerful as Jak. At this point we need all the help we can get," she said as she remembered the damage the kid had done.

"He said he had made a deal with the Precursors in some kinda temple. In return for a way home he'd help save all our butts," Torn explained.

"All the more reason to work with him," Ashelin replied. "Use him where you can but keep an eye on him, we have bigger problems to worry about." Torn nodded and the communicator went silent. She then turned to Samos, Pecker, and Onin. "What do you all think, should we trust this guy?" she asked.

The green-skinned sage with the log in his hair hummed for a moment in thought before speaking. "It's too soon to tell. However, if the Precursors made a deal with him for his help, then we'll have to trust in their wisdom," he said with only partial confidence.

The monkey bird then spoke up as the old soothsayer Onin started making hand gestures, particles of Eco trailing as she did so. "Onin says that this Roxas could be a great ally but could easily become far more dangerous than the Day Star if turned against us," he said to the shock of everyone present.

"What? How?" Keira, Samos' daughter and childhood friend of Jak exclaimed.

Pecker continued to interpret for the old woman. "There are … vague legends, myths of myths that date even before the earliest Precursor manuscripts. Most of them are spotty and fragmented, but they often mention Keyblades, the same weapons that Roxas uses. Depending on which ones you look at and how they are read, they say that Keyblade users are either great defenders of worlds … or great destroyers of worlds." The room stood in silence, contemplating which Roxas was and what his effect on this war would be.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Roxas slashed through another KG drone as Jak took out the last relay circuit for the sniper cannons. While the mission itself wasn't too bad, it was different than the past ones he had done with the Organization. Those missions were usually either recon or search and destroy. This one was to guard Jak as he took out the cannons' relays, making them useless. It was strange but Roxas handled it the same as when he was partnered with someone on a mission going after a heartless; keep your eyes open for any enemies and watch each other's back. Once the last relay was destroyed the two headed back to the port. "Hey let's check out the out the old gun course. Gotta make sure we still hold the top score," Daxter said with a grin.

The two blondes nodded and went over to that area of the Port. To Roxas it just looked like an ordinary warehouse. Going inside he was surprised. There were tons of crates filled with ammo and weapons. To one side of the area was what looked like a work station with numerous gun parts lying about. Standing over it working was a young female elf with light blonde hair, a forest green shirt, and jean short-shorts. She turned around and her face lit up at the sight of them. "Oh Daxter you're back! Oh did that mean ole desert burn your itty-bitty paws?" she gushed as she picked up the ottsel and snuggled him, much to Roxas' surprise. Most women were … put off by Daxter but this one simply adored him.

Daxter wiggled in her grip. "Hey Tess baby, don't crush da merchandise. How's biz?" he asked as he got back down.

The blonde woman motioned to the work station. "I'm designing new guns to help out the war-effort," she stated proudly.

"You make guns now?" Jak said surprised.

She turned and picked up the weapon she was working on. It looked like a morph gun in yellow mode but with large disk on the front with three blades pointing forward. "Yep. I just finished this new gun. It sports a multi-port, large board gyro burst launcher with blowback breach-assist using full metal jacket, eco-depleted, armor piercing slugs and continuous kill-zone scanner for tight groupings and a high cycle rate of fire," she said with a proud and dangerous glint in her eye. All three of them stared at her with their mouths open in shock. She giggled at their expressions, "It's a hobby."

Roxas just shook his head before asking. "So since these are for the war effort, do we get any of the new hardware?" he asked knowing that the mod could be attached to his new Keyblade Eco Surge just it would with a normal morph gun.

Tess gave a smirk that reminded the Nobody of Alice. "Not so fast. First, you two have to prove you can protect my little schnook-ums in the new gun course," she said while grinning at Daxter. Jak and Roxas just gave each other a look, both thinking that this girl was a little … off. Then again what did he know, his experience with females was limited to Xion, Larxene, and Alice, none of which were what one would call normal. Shaking his head, he followed Jak into the gun course, wondering what he had gotten into now.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Far away from Haven City in space above the planet, the Dark Makers discussed their plans with their ally. They were creatures twisted by dark Eco, once Precursors now something else. They stood on two legs on the balls of their feet, much like those of beasts or Metalheads. They were covered in dark, insectoid armor the crackled with dark Eco. They turned on the communicator to their … ally Erol. "Report Erol. What is your progress?" one of them rasped in a twisted metallic voice.

The face of an elf appeared on their communicator, the left side of it replaced by metallic parts and circuitry. Erol originally had been the captain of the Krimson Guards under the rule of Baron Praxis and was considered by many to equal or surpass the Baron in cruelty. He had hated Jak when he worked with the resistance and had tried to take the dark Eco freak out during a race, only to crash into barrels of eco. He would have died at that time had he not been rescued by a few loyal Krimson Guard soldiers. He had been rebuilt as a red cyborg. However the process had not been … gentle, resulting in even greater madness than what he originally had. He responded to his strange allies. "The invasion is going well. I expect in a week the city will be overrun and then we'll be able to head into the catacombs and destroy this world from the inside out!" he laughed.

The corrupted Precursors growled in approval. "Good. Continue the assault. Our sensors have picked up an anomaly. There is a being in the city that could be a threat to us."

The twisted cyborg just laughed, "Who, Jak? We will deal with him soon enough."

The insectoid creatures sneered before speaking again. "No, not the channeler. Another being wielding Light, Darkness … and Nothingness is now planet side. A Nobody."

The cyborg just laughed, "They're all nobodies and will be crushed soon enough."

A harsh sneer silenced his cackling. "No you fool! A Nobody, a creature born from Nothingness itself when a being is consumed by Darkness. Our sensors have detected a powerful one located in the area of Haven City. Keep watch for anything unusual, we may need to send reinforcements to you to deal with the creature," the dark creature ordered.

Erol bowed in recognition. "As you command," he replied before the communication ended.

The Dark Maker who had been speaking with Erol turned to his associates. "It seems our enemies are getting desperate if they are willing to employ a Nobody to aid them."

They nodded before one of the others spoke. "Still, they are no fools. They were smart enough to employ a channeler who wields both light and dark Eco against us. They would not ask for the Nobody's help unless there was something special about it."

A third spoke. "Agreed. We will send our own troops to investigate this Nobody. Nothing will stop the destruction of the Light!" They all agreed as the room went dark with only the glow of dark Eco left lighting it.

**Journal Entry 379**

**Haven City:**

I have to say that Haven city is not all it's cracked up to be. While I was initially overwhelmed by how huge it is, the place shows the times it has been through. The war has weathered both the structures and the people. Metalheads infest the place and unless their hive is destroyed as well as the floating war factory, I don't see how this city will survive.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 16: Day 386: Soldiers of War

Roxas had been in Haven a week and could honestly say that war was hell. The fight against both the Metalheads and the Krimson Guard was brutal and taxing on everyone, most of all for Jak, Daxter, Torn, Ashelin, and Roxas himself but for very different reasons. For Jak, it was because he had been fighting for so long and seeing his friends suffering when he was supposed to be the hero. Daxter was in a similar state in seeing his best friend go through so much and not being able to help out more because of what he was. Torn and Ashelin were both depressed at seeing the city they worked so hard to rescue and restore to glory fall so far.

With Roxas it was simply that he had never been in a war before. While he didn't like taking orders due to his time with the Organization, he did realize that Torn and Ashelin had far more experience in this than he did. Most of the time, he was sent to reinforce Freedom soldiers who were being overrun by Metalheads and or KG bots. While the soldiers had questioned his presence there at first, their doubts were laid to rest when they saw him fight, taking out scores of Metalheads and KG bots with his Keyblades and his various powers. He had also been on a couple missions with Jak and Daxter, one of which had been assaulting the metalhead nest. They had gone through the sewers which were still infested with them and KG bots and come up from below. Once behind enemy lines, they had proceeded to do some damage, taking out dark Eco generators. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, destroying those things had a nasty side effect on both of them

**XIII-Flashback Start-XIII**

The Nobody was glad he had eaten a light lunch before going on this mission. As if going back through the sewers weren't bad enough, now they were in the metalhead nest where everything was covered in this technorganic flesh that sparked with dark Eco. Everything pulsed with a twisted sort of life as a river of sludge and slime bubbled and flowed between the two sides of the nest that had once been dividing walls in the city. The metalhead hive stank with numerous chemicals, blood, and other liquids and toxins that he could only guess at. "I think I'm gonna hurl," Daxter commented as they entered the area.

"No argument here. Let's just find those generators and get out of here. I don't like standing on something that has a pulse," Roxas commented. Jak nodded and the three went to work. One by one they moved through the hive, taking out the generators as the avoided the twisted Metalheads. Without their leader who had been killed a year prior, their numbers weren't nearly as strong and they couldn't replenish their troops as easily. However, they were now being reinforced by the KG army which was making things much more difficult in getting rid of them.

Jumping from rock to rock and tower to tower, the three of them destroyed the generators until only one remained. Their morph guns had no effect on these things due to the massive Eco output so they had to use their fists and blades, much to their displeasure. Each one they destroyed seemed to cause a reaction within them. The dark Eco in Jack and the Darkness in Roxas both flared up with each generator they destroyed. It was a really weird feeling, like a surge of fire and emotion, which wasn't that all surprising since Darkness was the source of all hearts and thus all emotion. Still, it was making their insides boil in a way they couldn't understand. They wanted to be done with this and head back to base as soon as possible.

They came to the last generator at the end of the living corridor. This one was putting out much more energy than the past ones due to all of them being connected and this one trying to pick up the slack of the others. The two looked at each other and nodded. Jak reeled back his fist while Roxas wielded Lunar Eclipse. The struck at the same time, destroying the generator and causing the dark Eco to flare out in an explosion, heading into the nearest containers, Jak and Roxas. The dark Eco seeped into them, causing a reaction in both

Jak groaned, holding himself as he slowly transformed into Dark Jak. His skin paling to an ashen white while his eyes darkened to a become onyx orbs. His growled and snarled as the energy arched around him and seemed to focus on his hands. His claws unsheathed themselves with dark Eco arcing around them. Roxas was no better. Swirls of Darkness raced up from Lunar Eclipse and encircled Roxas. He could feel the Darkness within rising, churning, realigning itself with the Light and Nothingness. The Darkness, like with Jak, focused itself on his hands, seemingly forming whirling blades of shadow with jagged, razor like edges. Roxas flexed his hands, trying to restrain the influx of dark power while Jak tried to do the same.

While distracted by the infusion Darkness, neither of them noticed a group of Metalheads running at them until they were almost on top of them. Turning quickly, Roxas brought his hands forward to summon his Keyblades. However, his hands were still swirling with the Darkness. Instead of his weapons forming, the shadow blades shot forward like crazed serpents, striking the charging beasts and exploding in blasts of spike-like Darkness. Jak did the same, only the energy around his hands formed two powerful spheres of dark Eco. He launched them forward with a lightning tether between them, creating an energy bola that ripped through the wall at the back of nest and opening a new way in and out of the hive.

The two quickly left, the new infusion of dark energy coursing inside them and assimilating with them. This would take some getting used to.

**XIII-Flashback End-XIII**

Ever since then, the two had worked hard to keep control of their new powers. Jak's Dark Strike and Roxas' Dark Arrows were highly effective at taking out large groups of enemies, but were really hard to control. More than once they had nearly taken out some of their own allies. Most had learned to steer clear of the two when they started using some of their more … energetic abilities. Right now Roxas was sitting in the Naughty Ottsel, having a drink as he waited for a new mission. While some would consider him too young, especially considering he had only been alive for a little over a year, most others, Jak, Daxter, and Torn included, went by the saying "Old enough to kill, old enough to drink." There was another line in there, but they didn't think it applied at this time. Currently Jak was at the power station trying to acquire the code cipher for the Krimson Guard war factory. Once they had that, they could plan an attack on that floating scrap heap and take out the source of the KG robots

Roxas was interrupted from his drink by his communicator going off. "This is Roxas," he responded immediately.

"Roxas, this is Ashelin. We're getting some weird dark Eco readings in south Haven forest and would like you to check it out," the Baroness ordered.

"Metalheads?"

"No, something else. These readings are more concentrated and less chaotic then Metalheads. Be careful and stay in contact. Good luck." The communicator went silent. Roxas went outside and "borrowed" one of the zoomers nearby. One of the first things he learned from Jak was how to hotwire and drive these things. He had gotten used to them fairly quickly and was actually pretty good, though nowhere near as skilled as Jak was. He made his way through the torn city, through the metalhead nest. Ever since they had destroyed the dark Eco generators the Metalheads were much less of a problem, though it would be some time before their corruption was removed from the city.

He landed the zoomer and entered South Haven Forest. He hadn't been here before himself, so he summoned Two Becomes One and Rejection of Fate as the doors opened. He cautiously made his way into the forest, his hood up and his eyes open. The forest he was in reminded him of the Vale of Tears back in Wonderland, though it was different seeing it at this height rather than an inch tall. It was much more vast and lush than the forest in Twilight Town near the old mansion. Roxas could easily see this place as being one of his favorite in this world except for one thing … it was dead silent.

Keeping his Keyblades ready, Roxas cautiously made his way into the forest towards the central pillars. He knew for a fact that forests were not a silent place, quiet yes, peaceful yes, but not dead silent. That was when he saw them. Creatures covered in dark purple, almost black colored armor. There were two types coming at him. The first were the ground forces. Roxas narrowed his eyes at them as they bore a disturbing resemblance to the Precursor emblems and statues he had seen. They walked on two legs that were bent backwards at the knee like a grasshopper's with two arms ending in armored claws. Out of their backs were several pipes that seemed to spew out dark Eco based fumes. Their faces were insectoid, with elongated noses/mouths. All and all, they looked like smaller versions of the Precursor robots cross with the Jabberwocky. The other kind was a flyer type, shaped like twisted manta rays with several tentacles streaming out the back and long bladed tails that curved back around. He had never seen anything like these things before and therefore was especially weary of them.

The creature seemed to stare at him in wonderment, or more specifically the Keyblades he was holding. If these things had any relation to the Precursors, then it was likely they knew what those weapons were and what Roxas truly was. As if giving a silent signal, they attack en masse, trying to swarm and overwhelm the swordsman with bolts of dark eco. Wasting no time, Roxas blocked and started slashing through the nearest dark creature, instinctively summoning light beams to take out the others around him. It was reminiscent of the few times where Heartless had tried to swarm him, so this wasn't much different.

He tried several different attacks, finding that Light and Nothingness based ones were more effective than Darkness based, which was understandable given their dark Eco nature. Roxas slashed though one while his beams cut through the areal support. However, for each one he cut down, two more took its place; it seemed they were desperate to kill him. He cut down another just before blocking a blast of dark eco, sending him flying backwards into a tree hard. These things were relentless. 'Damn it! I can't keep this up!' he thought before activating his communicator. "This is Roxas, I need backup in South Haven Forest and I need it now!" he yelled as he launched a flurry of Chaos Blades at an approaching group. "There are these weird dark Precursor things and their overrunning the place!"

The voice of Ashelin came over the communicator. "We're sending reinforcements, but it'll take time. ETA 15 minutes," she replied. "Try to hang on!" she cried out.

"Damn it!" Roxas cursed as he was hit again by a blast of dark eco. Using Event Horizon constantly and repeatedly using Chaos Blades and Aura Blade was starting to take his toll. While his training with Jak had paid off, even he had his limits. He banished Two Become One and Rejection of Fate to summon Eco Surge and began to blast anything that was dark purple and moved. To try and save ammo, he started throwing void spheres which seemed to work very well against these things. Despite this, more and more kept coming. 'I can't keep this up, I need help now!' he thought wildly as he started to charge another void sphere. However, he failed to notice that he was holding Eco Surge with both hands as he did this, causing both gems on the emblem to glow.

The combination of Nothingness, his thoughts, and the enhancement of Eco Surge caused a reaction. They appeared, causing everyone in the area to stop. Lesser Nobodies. They were humanoid like most Nobodies. They were thin and stood about Jak's height on what would be the balls of their feet. Like all Nobodies they had pale white, cloth-like skin that covered their whole form. However, they also had black armor on their shins, forearms, torso, shoulders, and a helmet covering their whole head. On the armor were glowing neon lines, similar to circuitry as the armor did have a more mechanical feel than standard Nobody armor. Their helmets had only a large visor covering the entire front of it with the Nobody symbol outlined in neon. Currently over a couple dozen of them just stood there, motionless as the neon lines on their armor pulsed gently a light, whitish blue color, as if waiting for something.

Deciding to take a gamble, Roxas tentatively gave a command. "Attack?"

That set them off. Immediately the neon lines on their armors changed to various colors. Some of them had the neon change to yellow while their hands changed into blasters, immediately opening fire on the corrupted Precursors. Others had the outlines change to red as their hands became hammer like weapons, emitting shockwaves with every punch they landed. Some even changed to a blue color and gaining blade-like armaments, cackling with sapphire electricity and moving with incredible speed. The tide turned as the lesser Nobodies started to take on the dark Eco infused machines.

Deciding not to question the appearance of the Nobodies, Roxas rejoined the battle, taking out more of the dark Eco infused creatures. However, even with the unexpected "reinforcements", he was still heavily damaged. All the energy he had expended plus all the dark Eco in the area was causing a reaction, one that had only happened once before. 'Oh crap' he thought faintly before he was engulfed in jagged bolts of Nothingness. A moment later, Roxas emerged in Void Form.

The invaders paused in shock at the strange transformation. That moment was all the Nobodies needed to turn the tide. Immediately the lesser Nobodies counter attacked while Void Roxas twisted and stretched, grabbing the dark colored machines and slamming them into others, launching void spheres as he went. Soon the intruders' numbers fell until only a few remained. Seeing that they were not going to win this, they retreated, warping away before they could be eliminated. However, one of them remained, staring into the stoic face of Void Roxas. "This is not over … Nobody," it said in a dark, metallic voice before leaving in a flashed of purple light.

Once the last of creatures disappeared, he turned to one of the lesser Nobodies. "Is the area secure?" he asked in a monotone voice devoid of any emotion.

_All enemy units have been neutralized commander._ Roxas nodded at the response with no other emotion as he surveyed the area. He looked at the assembled lesser Nobodies whose color had all shifted to their original white-blue color.

It was at that point that Ashelin appeared followed by a squad of blue-armored soldiers. Her eyes widened in shock at the scene. Wreckage and corpses of obviously dark Eco infused monsters scattered about with group of strange black and white beings standing there. In the center of the group was one unique one that seemed larger than the others, lacked any black armor, and instead had four light-blue ribbon-like things extending from a collar on its neck. These things weren't Metalheads and they weren't the dark creatures that were reported earlier. In fact they showed up on the scanners just about 10 minutes before she and her troops arrived and they were giving weird readings, or more accurately a lack of readings. They were like mobile dead zones where no energy, sound, or anything existed. The one in the center was giving off even weirder readings. She pulled out her blaster and motioned to her men to move in carefully. "Move forward, but stay frosty, we don't know what these things are or what they want," she ordered as they approached.

The black and white creatures made no move or reaction at all. The leader approached Ashelin calmly. It stood for a moment before saluting, the other creatures following suit, surprising the hell out of the Baroness. "Subject: Ashelin Praxis. Station: Baroness of Haven City. Classification: Ally. Unit XIII Roxas reporting. All invading enemy units have been eliminated. South Haven Forest secure. Awaiting orders," he stated in a monotone voice.

Ashelin was stunned, this … thing was Roxas? "What the hell happened to you!? And what the hell are these things?" she demanded of the being claiming to be Roxas. While it … he had a similar build and voice, he didn't act like Roxas at all, at least not in the way she had come to know him in the relatively short time he had been in Haven.

The being didn't even move as he responded. "Unit XIII Roxas engaged multiple enemies and sustained heavy damage. Situation caused Unit XIII Roxas to unintentionally summon lesser Nobodies. Designation: Neons. Due to damage, Unit XIII Roxas reverted to Void Form. Unit XIII Roxas and Neons proceeded in eliminating enemy targets. Mission Complete."

The freedom soldiers looked at each other uneasily during the explanation. Most had suspected Roxas wasn't normal due to his powers and lack of pointed ears, but this was just too much. Ashelin sighed before asking, "Well change back already."

"Negative. Unit XIII Roxas cannot revert to standard form without medical attention. Neons lack sufficient energy to fulfill medical needs."

The baroness shook her head as she holstered her gun. "Fine, let's return to Freedom HQ and sort this mess out there."

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The Baroness of Haven entered the doors of Freedom central command where Samos, his daughter Keira, Jak, and Daxter were all waiting for her and Roxas. As usual, Daxter was the first one to speak. "Hey baby, have fun in the woods? Where's Roxas?" he asked. The orange rodent got his answer when she stepped aside, revealing the off-white form of Void Roxas and the lesser Nobodies. "Wahhh! What the hell are those things!?" he asked as he hid being Jak.

"That … is Roxas," she stated simply, causing everyone's eyes to widen.

"Affirmative," Roxas added impassively.

"What happened to him? Did those creatures do this?" Samos asked concerned. As a sage, he knew well what Eco would do to a person, especially dark Eco in the hands of madmen and monsters.

It was Roxas who answered. "Negative. Void Form was activated when Unit XIII Roxas sustained heavy damage in combat. Standard form cannot be regained until medical treatment is applied."

Daxter peeked out from behind Jak, looking a little confused. "Void Form? Do you know what he's talking about?"

Jak was silent for a moment before speaking. "It sounds like this Void Form is some kind of … defense mechanism, caused when Roxas takes too much damage."

"Affirmative," he stated simply.

Samos nodded and started to apply a stream of green healing Eco to Roxas. After a few moments, a cocoon of Nothingness enveloped Roxas and in a flash he was his normal self again. He shook himself like a dog after a bath. "Damn, that still feels weird," he muttered. He looked up to see everyone staring at him

"You … have some serious explaining to do buddy," Daxter said crossly. Roxas sighed and began to tell his story, his whole story. He told them what he was, about the Organization, his missions, Xion, Riku, Sora, DiZ, his imprisonment, his escape, and his deal with the Precursors. They all stared wide-eyed at his explanation of what he was and his creation. "Jeeze and I thought we had a weird life. Sounds like you go screwed several times over," the ottsel said from Jak's shoulder. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to know of a certain demonic cat would you?"

Everyone blinked, minus the Neons who didn't have eyes, before Roxas face-palmed in exasperation. "What has Cheshire done now?"

At that moment a shimmer occurred in the middle of the room, causing everyone except the Nobodies to react by pulling out their weapons. "Did someone call me?" a calm voice sounded as a twisted grin followed by an equally twisted cat appeared in the middle of Freedom HQ.

"Who … what is this!?" Ashelin asked stunned. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

Roxas just gave a lopsided smile before waiving his hand at the demonic feline. "May I introduce the Cheshire Cat. He's a … companion that I picked up that tends to pop in and out to give useful information, though it's usually cryptic as hell."

"Why is that?" Keira asked as she eyed Roxas, the Neons, and the Cheshire Cat with caution.

The cat in question dispersed into gray and purple smoke, floating around the girl as he spoke in his normal, creepy voice. "Because I be what I be, a cat, and no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer." He then purred as his grin, eyes, and a paw materialized from the smoke. "Besides, it's always more satisfying to see you work it out for yourselves," he said as he ran a claw across her cheek, causing her to freak out and dash away near her father Samos. He chuckled at the glares he was getting from them. "I'll be around," he said before fading away.

Samos and Keira were now even more leery of Roxas after the cat faded away. Finding out that he had no heart, literally and figuratively, made them even less enthused to trust him despite his contributions to the effort so far. For Samos, any creature that was closely linked to Darkness was something to be watched carefully and controlled if not outright eliminated. It was why he didn't try harder at first to allow Jak and Daxter to be banished in the first place, because he had been subconsciously fearful of Jak's dark Eco powers getting out of control. After seeing what dark Eco did to Gol and Maia, he was afraid of his worst fears being realized. However, he was glad his fears were proven wrong when Jak and Daxter returned from the wastelands to save the ungrateful city. For now, the sage of green Eco decided to reserve judgment.

Keira on the other hand was even more reluctant to trust him. The fact that he had no heart, that he had no true alliance to them, and had only been here few weeks made her not want to trust him. Still, even she knew that in the war they were fighting that they needed all the help they could get. Didn't mean she had to like the guy and those creepy lesser Nobodies of his. Besides, that cat just freaked her out.

Ashelin was a little more understanding after hearing about his time in the Organization and the betrayal. After what her father, Baron Praxis had done to Jak and the city and what Count Veger had done, she understood betrayal and backroom deals. She also shared Roxas' suspicion of Xenmas having an alternate reason for the Organization from what he described, but what that was she couldn't even begin to guess. Still, the baroness could tell he was a soldier with a mission and would do whatever it took to complete it, which currently meant that he would do whatever it took to insure this planet's survival in order to obtain a way back to the World that Never Was. Besides, these lesser Nobodies, these Neons, could give them the edge they needed in some upcoming battles.

Jak was the most understanding. The parallels between Roxas and himself were shocking and almost a little creepy. Snatched up out of nowhere, experimented on to made into a weapon, imprisoned, his guard wanting to kill him, backroom deals fracturing the people he worked for, it was all so similar and yet very different. To Roxas, DiZ and Xenmas were his Baron Praxis and Riku his Erol. He could also understand people seeing him as a monster for something outside of his control. So what if he didn't have a heart? Praxis and Veger had hearts and weren't exactly candidates for humanitarian of the year.

They were all broken out of their musings by Jak's communicator going off. He looked at the message and then back at Roxas. "Looks like Damas is recalling all wastelanders back to Spargus," he said simply.

Roxas looked at them all before speaking. "Jak you and Daxter go back, I'll stay in Haven and keep an eye on things here." The blonde elf nodded before leaving.

Ashelin sighed, knowing that it was necessary for Jak to return. While Damas had been ousted from being the ruler of Haven due to her father and Veger's meddling, he was still an important man. Many of the political "criminals" that were banished to the wasteland had been unknowingly sent to him. Most were dropped off near places she knew he would look or with enough supplies to reach Spargus. The redhead sighed. If she could she would restore him to the throne, but the people wanted her since she helped topple her father and that they knew her much better now than Damas. There was also the fact that his heir was still missing even after a year of searching. According to Torn, the resistance had sheltered the child for awhile, but after the whole episode with Metal Kor, the kid just disappeared. The baroness suspected that Jak and Daxter might know as they were the ones that took down Metal Kor, but with everything happening in Haven, she had little time to ask them about it.

The redhead turned to the boy … no young man who was stretching after being healed with green eco. While the stuff mended wounds, it didn't get rid of the soreness injuries left behind. "Well, once you're healed up I've got a few missions for you and you new soldiers," she stated as she went back to organizing her troops. It would be nice to deal with something normal for the day.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

High above in space, the few surviving Dark Makers stood before their commander. A massive, dark being that oozed dark eco. "Sire, we engaged the Nobody."

"And?" he pressed in a dark, corrupted tone of voice.

They looked at each other nervously before speaking. "We would have destroyed it, but it summoned more its kind and was able to change into another form. We were overpowered Sire, we had to retreat." They cringed as their commander charged a concentrated ball of dark Eco that was toxic even to them. "Sire, it was no ordinary Nobody, it could wield Keyblades," the Dark Maker exclaimed quickly, catching the attention of the commander. He lowered his claw, the dark Eco fading back into his body.

"I see. Our enemies are clever to employ a Keyblade user. We will have to take care of this Nobody," he said darkly, Eco oozing from his fist as he clenched it.

**Journal Entry Day 386: **

**Lesser Nobody: Neons**

Created by the souls of soldiers who fell in battle with both the Metalheads and Dark Makers, Neons are multipurpose Nobodies. The lines on their bodies glow with Eco that they produce internally. Each color allows them to have different powers. Red gives them enhanced strength and close combat abilities in the form of powerful punches. Blue greatly enhances their speed and arms them with wing-like, electrified blades. Yellow gives them a pair of blasters for long range attacks. With green Eco they gain limited healing abilities, usually enough to treat immediate wounds to continue fighting. Light Eco increases their defensive capabilities by giving them light shields. Lastly, dark Eco gives them heavy demolition abilities, such as launching a Dark Strike or even a Dark Bomb. However, all these abilities are limited and can only be used for so long before they have to switch to a different color to let the others recharge and they can only use one at a time. If they drain all six colors, then they nearly shut down, being no more effective than Dusks. Regardless, these are highly skilled and organized enemies who tend to operate in groups, extreme caution is advised.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 17: Day 390: Digging for Answers

It had been days since Roxas had revealed what he truly was. Truthfully he wasn't too surprised by their reactions. Unlike Jak who they had known for years, they had only known him for a few weeks. Most had been uneasy around him and the Neons who he had unofficially become the squad captain of. As a result, both Ashelin and Torn were giving him advice on how to manage a squad, even one as unusual as this. Right now he was heading to the ruins of what once was the palace, searching for an entrance into the catacombs that Veger mentioned before. He was currently in what had once been the bazaar area of the city. Around him was a squad of eight Neons in an octagon arrangement as they scouted the area.

Roxas was still getting used to commanding them. While he had summoned and worked with Inmates back in Wonderland, they hadn't asked for or really listened to any orders. To be more accurate he hadn't summoned them, they had just appeared and started to help out. The new lesser Nobodies had helped with the assault on the Red Queens palace, but had more or less disappeared after that. At the moment, Roxas wasn't sure if he could summon them again, even if he had been in Wonderland. Hell, he wasn't even sure how he had summoned the Neons on this world. He suspected it had something to do with Eco Surge and its enhancement abilities. Still, it made him wonder if he could summon lesser Nobodies at will.

'Not that it would help much against the Organization,' he thought sourly as he made his way through what had once been a fruit stand in the bazaar. He knew that each Organization member could control certain … type of lesser Nobodies, not including the Dusks which all of them could control. Axel had the Assassins, Luxord the Gamblers, Xigbar the Snipers, Demyx the Creepers, Xaldin the Dragoons, Saix the Berserkers, and Xenmas himself commanded the Sorcerers. As far as Roxas knew he could command his own type of lesser Nobody, the Samurai. However, he had only met them while in the Castle that Never Was and only for training. He had never actually commanded them. Usually lesser Nobodies were used as scouts or for very simple missions that didn't require a lot of brain power. This was because while lesser Nobodies were logical beings who could follow orders like a machine, they were not the brightest bulbs in the bunch.

When Roxas got back to the World that Never Was, he would have to hold off on summoning any lesser Nobodies due to Xenmas possibly being able to control all other lesser Nobodies because of his element being Nothingness itself. While Roxas' developing tri-powers of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness were nothing to sneer at, Xenmas wielded pure Nothingness and had a lot more experience with his abilities along with more raw power than what Roxas had. If there was one thing Roxas had learned from this war, it was not to underestimate your opponent.

The ruins of the bazaar were littered with the remains of soldiers, machines, Metalheads, and civilians, though it was sometimes hard to tell which was which. At first Roxas had been somewhat disturbed by what he was seeing, though it didn't affect him as much as it should have. It may have been due to his lack of a heart or lack of experience, he wasn't sure which. Eventually he started to understand the grimness of the situation. While he had nothing against the death of Metalheads and KG robots, the deaths of the soldiers and civilians bothered him sometimes. The civilians didn't deserve to be caught up in this. Hell, from what he had heard, very few of them fully understood what was happening in this war. Rumors raged like wildfire about the Metalheads, the Krimson Guard, the Baroness, Jak, and even Roxas himself. The soldiers were just as bad. Most of them were what was left of the original Krimson Guard and hadn't wanted to work for the Baroness, the one who had helped the rebellion overthrow the old Baron. Now they were still stuck unwillingly in a multi-sided war. Most of them had no clue what they were really fighting for and what would happen if the war ended. To Roxas, that was … sad and disconcerting. To fight and be willing to give your life but not have a reason or purpose, that bothered the Greater Nobody. He at least had a reason for what he was doing, for fighting, for surviving. Granted revenge wasn't the most noble of reasons, but it was a damn good one that anyone could understand on some level.

The Keyblade wielder shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he and his group entered the area around what had once been the palace. The place had been decimated and was now partially overrun with Metalheads and KG robots. It was obvious they were looking for something, but no one knew what that was. As a result, Roxas and his squad of Neons had been sent to investigate the place as well as what was left of Mar's Tomb and take out any enemies in the area that they could.

As soon as they entered the area just outside where the palace once stood, they found it infested with heavily armed KG robots and Metalheads. Around the perimeter where they were located were mostly, spider drones, Metalhead fliers and what most soldiers called leapers. All of them were small and maneuverable, perfect for scouting or searching a large area. Most of them were easily dispatched by the Neons in yellow mode as they progressed around the palace towards the area where Mar's Tomb had been. The place was in ruins, rubble and machinery strung about everywhere. From the looks of the place, it had been more of a fortress than a palace, though he wouldn't really know the difference as the only other castle he had been in was in the World that Never Was. That castle had also been more of a fortress, so he couldn't really judge.

As they progressed around the perimeter, they found tunnels leading into the ground, near where the tomb had once been. According to the information he got from Samos, this was where Jak had passed the "trials of manhood" and obtained the Precursor Stone, or more accurately the previous Baron did. In any case, there had been a recent rise in enemy activity in the area and he was sent to investigate. It seemed the KG robots and Metalheads were searching Mar's Tomb, probably hoping to find more artifacts like the Stone, though that was unlikely. Regardless of what was or wasn't down there, Roxas was charged with clearing out the place and securing it for separate base or at least a future archeological site.

The entered the lower cavern, reminding Roxas of the lower levels of the Cave of Wonders back on that desert world he had been on. There were hug pillars and a massive pool of shallow water. There was also a large door at the other end of the cavern, most likely where the Precursor Stone had been stored before the Baron had claimed it. Roxas could also make out the glowing head gems of dozens of Metalheads and the optics of KG drones. Shaking his head, Roxas turned to his squad of Neons, pointing to a few of them. "You four, get to some high ground and take up sniping positions. If it's not black and white, shoot it on sight. You two, cover the exit, we don't know if it's the only way out of here or not, so we can't be cut off. The rest of you will stick with me while we clean this place out," he whispered to his soldiers.

He got the impression of a nod as they replied to him. _By your order Commander_. They then dispersed, taking up the positions he had instructed. Roxas moved forward with the remaining Neons when the ones he had ordered started to snipe the various Metalheads and machines. They cleared out the main area, wiping out the robots and Metalheads. Once they had the main chamber secure, they started to search the entire area.

Most of the rooms were filled with weird traps, a couple of which had massive pools of dark Eco, which was what had probably attracted the Metalheads in the first place. 'That'll need to be neutralized or at least properly sealed off,' Roxas thought as he moved to the back of the main chamber. At the end he found a broken stone bridge and a large statue that had once held the Precursor Stone. "Boy, this place has seen better days," he commented out loud.

He was interrupted by a loud, low voice speaking to him. "Indeed. Why are you here young warrior? The Precursor stone has long since been taken from here."

Roxas raised an eyebrow under his hood. "I don't know which is weirder, the fact that I'm talking to a statue in a tomb or the fact that this is the second time this month. To answer your question, the Metalheads were overrunning the place and I was sent to clear it out," the Keyblade wielder explained.

The statue was quiet for a moment before responding. "You do well to eliminate the Hora-Quan, the ones you call Metalheads. Even with the heir of Mar acquiring the Precursor Stone, they continue to plague this world."

The blonde-haired young man nodded in agreement until he thought over what the statue just said. "Wait, the heir of Mar? I thought Jak was the one to get the stone?" The statue said nothing, leaving it silent for a few moments. "So Jak is the heir of Mar?" he asked only partially surprised. He had known there was far more to Jak than many suspected. "Wouldn't that make him the rightful ruler of the city?" he asked curiously.

"Indeed, but his father was ousted before he could take his rightful place," the statue explained.

Roxas stood silent for a few moments as he thought about this. He knew that Baron Praxis had taken over the city and ousted the previous king. He had also known about the heir, but the problem was that the heir was said to be a little kid, not a young adult like Jak. Something didn't add up here. Still he had other matters to attend to. "Tell me, do you know anything about Keyblades?" he asked as summoned Two Become One and Rejection of Fate

The statue was silent for a few moments before speaking. "From what we know, the Keyblades were originally created as replacements for a weapon called the X-Blade, supposedly the key to Kingdom Hearts, the source of all hearts. A great war was waged, the result of which is unknown to us."

"But who created them? Who was fighting this Keyblade war?" The Nobody asked almost pleadingly. It seemed that while everyone had been after the Keyblade, no one knew just what it was or where it came from. Certainly none of the Organization knew, or if they did, they never told him, which all things considered was just as likely.

"That is unknown to us. What we do know is that there were Keyblade wielders of both Light and Darkness. Your Keyblades however were the first known to employ Nothingness," the rumbling voice of the statue replied.

"Indeed," a new voice said, causing Roxas to turn around in surprise. "That is why we must eliminate you," the source said. Roxas' eyes widened at the sight of one of the same creatures he had encountered in South Haven Forest. However, that wasn't what worried him. What worried him was the fact that the dark Precursor-like being was giving off a massive amount of dark mist, dark mist that Roxas recognized from his missions in Neverland chasing after that pirate captain. It was the mist that summoned/created Heartless.

The mist solidified behind the invader, conjugating into a mass that was on par with a Dustflier in size. It formed four, sharp looking, insectoid legs connected to a base on top of which was a spiked torso. The thing had large spikes on its shoulders and massive arms that in three sickle-like claws around what looked like a mouth full of sharp teeth. The thing's head was very alien, with four burning yellow eyes and a vicious mouth with four mandibles. The twisted image was completed by a large head crest that sported the Heartless symbol. All over its body was tribal like markings that emitted a familiar purple light that shimmered as it moved. The Nobody immediately recognized that shimmer as he had seen it earlier in the tomb, dark Eco. The Heartless that appeared were infected with dark Eco, much in the same way Metalheads were. Roxas readied his Keyblades as three more of the new Heartless appeared behind the dark Eco being.

However, his attention was diverted from the new threat by the sound of crackling energy. Roxas immediately turned around to see light emitting from where the Precursor Stone once rest. The light formed into a shape, a very familiar shape. His eyes widened as the keyhole to this world's heart appeared. He knew from his time in the World that Never Was what happened to worlds that had their hearts taken by the Heartless. While he had never done so before, Roxas immediately aimed his Keyblade at the keyhole to lock it immediately before the Heartless even had a chance to get at it. A circle of light appeared around the tip of his weapon before firing am intense beam of light. Before the light struck, bands of Darkness weaved over the keyhole, preventing the beam from locking it for good. The Dark Maker was insuring that he would be unable to seal the keyhole as long as the Heartless were here. The Keyblade wielder snarled, "Damn it!" He turned just in time to see the Dark Maker disappear in a flash of dark Eco. The Nobody would swear it was smirking as it disappeared. "ALL UNITS TO ME!" he screamed. Immediately all the Neons flashed and appeared around Roxas in a formation. He then turned to the statue. "Seal this room, don't let them in here!" he ordered as he sent out a wave of Chaos Blades, throwing the Heartless to the other side of the main room.

He and the Neons entered the main chamber as the door closed. He turned to the lesser Nobodies under his command. "Guard the door. Don't let any of the Heartless get near it. Aim for their heads if they got too close," he ordered as he readied Two Become One and Sanity's Edge. He would need any advantage he could get against the dark Eco infused Heartless.

The insectoid Heartless got up and roared in rage at the attack. Reorienting themselves they spread out to surround their prey. Roxas absently pulled up his hood as his mind was working overtime on how to destroy these … things. Already he could feel the influence of Sanity's edge as he surveyed the entire cavern. The cracks in the walls, the dark Eco dripping in, the crumbling pillars, and the expansive pool of water were all taken in due to Warped Perceptions' effect. He dove to the side, hoping to try and take them on individually. The one on the farthest right side of the entrance saw him and roared out before dashing right the Nobody with surprising speed.

Eyes widening in surprise, Roxas avoided each of the Spyder Heartless' melee attacks. Noticing that the one of the other Spyders was converging on him while the other two were heading towards the sealed door, he quickly activated Destiny's Paths and attacked. The thing was fast and its teeth/claws were sharp as it tried to tear apart Roxas. Seeing an opportunity, he dashed under the thing's legs and slashed at the joints of the insectoid legs. The creature of Darkness screamed in rage and pain as it fell forward. Unfortunately he ran right into the other one who had saw him and was now reeling a clawed fist back to drive him into the ground.

Reacting quickly, Roxas jumped back and cast a Thundaga on the two Heartless. The effect was immediately and interesting as the shallow pool there were in enhanced the lightning magic's effectiveness. He also noted that the two other Spyders who were now being held off by the Neons from getting too close to the door were also affected by the electric attack. Continuing the assault, he summoned Eco Surge, dismissing Two Become One and Sanity's Edge. He switched it to red Plasmite RPG and began to unload on the two who were still recovering from the lightning strike.

Roxas did heavy damage to the two before noticing his Neons had opened fire on the two getting close to the door. Reacting quickly, Roxas shifted his weapon into blue Arc Wielder mode and aimed it at the water. Immediately the entire pool lit up like the tacky sign above Daxter's Bar with electricity. He kept it up as long as he could, but he was quickly running out of blue ammo. He stopped and switched to yellow Gyro-Buster and launched a drone which immediately started peppered the area with blaster fire.

Moving quickly, he ran back to the other two who were still severely weakened from his first assault. Summoning Two Become One and Sanity's Edge again, he spun and did his signature move; Dual Stance. The Spyder screamed in pain as it dissipated into Darkness, its corrupted heart floating away before fading. However, Roxas had no time to think as he was suddenly sucker-punched by the other one. The Nobody skidded across the water before going over the edge near the main entrance. On either side of the staircase that acted as the gateway to the tomb were bottomless pits. Reacting quickly, Roxas dug his Keyblades into the stone to keep himself from falling over. It let out a sigh in slight relief at not going over the edge. However, that relief was short lived as he looked to see the same Spyder rushing at him, roaring in rage. Activating Destiny's Paths, he saw just to do.

He waited until just as the Spyder Heartless was on top of him, rearing back a claw to send him into the endless void. The claw came down and at the last moment, Roxas pulled on the Keyblades and launched himself under the creature, between its insect legs. Once on the other side he jumped and performed a powerful double slash, for the creature to tip forward much more than intended. It teetered and went over the edge, screaming in rage and pain as it fell into the black void. Roxas ran to the center pathway of the tomb, seeing the two remaining Spyder Heartless. "Two down, two to go," he mumbled as he dismissed his two Keyblades, summoned Eco Surge again, and opened fire with the yellow Blaster mode. At the same time he activated the Light Eco Aura, summoning his shields in front of the two who were trying to get past the barricade the Neons made. The now thick beams of Light pierced the Heartless, causing them to roar in pain.

Roxas readied his weapon in red Wave Concussor mode for when they charged at him. However, instead of dashing and swiping at him as expected, one of them began to gather energy into its claws in a very familiar way. "Oh shit," Roxas mumbled as one of the Spyders launched a Dark Strike at him, same as what Jak would use. The dark Eco bola flew right at him, forcing him to jump as high as possible to avoid it. As soon as he landed he saw the second power up a Dark Strike of its own. Thinking quickly, Roxas had an insane idea. While still holding Eco Surge he summoned Lunar Eclipse. As soon as he held it, he could feel its powers dimmed by the Light Eco Aura. That wouldn't do for what he had planned. He reactivated Eco Aura, this time for Darkness

The Keyblade wielder nearly lurched at the dramatic shift in power. "Okay, note to self, do not do that again," he muttered as the beams he was maintaining immediately shrunk to a fourth of their original thickness, a couple flickering in and out of existence. Inversely, a massive shadow aura erupted around Luna Eclipse as the Eco Aura took effect. Looking at the Heartless, he silently goaded the thing to launch the attack as he readied Lunar Eclipse. "Hope this works," he said lowly as the Spyder Heartless launched the Dark Strike.

As the dark Eco bola came at him, Roxas waited until the last moment. He jumped up, twisted around, snagged the energy tether that linked the two dark Eco spheres with the teeth of the Keyblade, pumped as much Darkness into the attack as possible, landed, and flung the enhanced Dark Strike back at the two Heartless; all in one maneuver. The resulting explosion sent shockwave throughout the entire tomb.

Roxas waited with baited breath for the smoke to clear. As he did he absently noticed that the water in the large pool was draining away. Apparently he had destroyed the edge of the pool on that side, causing a waterfall and thus draining the pool. When the smoke cleared, only one Spyder remained, heavily damaged. "Okay, one left, no problem," he muttered until he saw the thing roar in unrestrained rage. Immediately the dark Eco from the other rooms began to surge into the main chamber in dark streams of mist and into the Heartless. "Me and my big mouth," he muttered as he watched the Heartless absorb the dark Eco and heal itself before starting to grow in size. Roxas gazed up as the Spyder start to take up the majority of space in the tomb. 'There's no way I can fight that thing in here,' he thought before noticing the pillars in the main area. Getting an idea, he sighed for a moment. 'Samos is gonna kill me for this.'

He ran forward as the thing roared, reaching down to slash at him with its claws. Roxas dodged and made his way to the doors where his Neons were waiting. "OPEN THE DOOR!" he yelled out, hoping the statue would listen. Fortunately it did. When he got to the other side, the massive Spyder tried to turn around, cracking the pillars that supported the place. Good. He turned around and focused on Lunar Eclipse. He had never done this before in a combat situation, but now was a good a time as any. He had discovered this Keyblade's Omega ability while training with Jak and had decided to keep it as a last resort, mostly due to the difficulty of using it.

The Darkness imbued Keyblade surged with energy, both from Roxas and from Eco Surge. If one were watching, they would see that the Nobody's shadow was growing and from it emerged a massive dark form. It was shaped like a Twilight Thorn, but completely black and in place of where its legs should be were just a mass of shadow. Another different was that in place of the helmeted head that a Twilight Thorn would have, this thing had a black hood similar to Roxas' obscuring its head. Roxas reached forward with both hands, the Living Eclipse mimicking his movements. The shadow creature's limbs extended forwards, following its master's mental command. They wrapped around the crumbling stone pillars in the central chamber. He pulled back, causing the Living Eclipse to do the same.

The pillars cracked and strained as the Spyder Heartless turned to attack. With one final pull, the pillars all caved in at the same time, bringing the entire place down on the enemy. Dispelling his Keyblades and the Living Eclipse, Roxas dashed into the stone chamber. "Close the door!" he yelled out. Immediately the massive door shut itself, sealing the Spyder Heartless in the collapsing tomb, screaming in rage and pain.

With the threat gone, the bands of Darkness dissipated, revealing the keyhole. With nothing in the way, Roxas summoned Two Become One and Rejection of Fate. Beneath him an outline of the Nobody symbol appeared, crackling with Nothingness, Darkness, and Light. He crossed his Keyblades in front of himself before pointing the two of them forwards at the keyhole, bringing the tips together. Around where the tips met, instead of one ring of Light appearing, there were three rings, one each for Light, Darkness, and Nothingness. The three rings unraveled and shot forward in a triple helix towards the keyhole. The helix struck, causing it to flash as a loud clunk sound was heard, like a large lock slipping into place. Once locked, the keyhole dissolved into sparks of light.

Roxas sighed in relief before realizing something. "How the hell do I get out of here now?"

**Journal Entry Day 390: **

**Heartless: Spyder**

A monster of a Heartless only found in or near Haven City or any place with large amounts of dark Eco. They are created when a Metalhead is consumed by Darkness. As such, they retain their savage nature and their affinity with dark Eco, making it so that they seek the stuff out almost as much as they do hearts. Likewise though, this affinity also causes them to avoid the other types of Eco, especially light Eco, very consistently. They are powerful and savage Heartless with incredible strength and surprising speed. Their affinity with dark Eco also allows them to launch dark Eco attacks such as Dark Strike and Dark Bomb.

These are some of the most dangerous Heartless I've ever encountered. Savage, ruthless, and powerful, these things are best attacked from a distance. Oddly, they remind me of the Bully Dog Heartless I met in Beast's Castle with Xaldin. Despite its size and being a Heartless, it attacked and acted pretty much like a dog. These things act a lot like Metalheads, though with less intelligence and restraint. Makes me wonder how much of a being is made up by their heart and how much is a soul and or mind. Something to ponder later I suppose.

AN: I plan to have Roxas seal the keyholes to other worlds as well. As for the keyhole being in Mar's tomb, I figured it fit well, given where the keyholes of other worlds were located. Each place was someplace hidden, yet known to someone important of that world. EX: Atlantica – Ariel's secret grotto/Ariel, Agrabah – deep in the Cave of Wonders/Genie, Wonderland (Disney) – inside the living keyhole/White Rabbit, Halloween Town – Underneath Oogie's lair/Oogie Boogie, Deep Jungle – behind a waterfall/Tarzan.

I already have an idea for Okami, though I'm not sure where Brutal Legend's keyhole should be. Any suggestions would be welcome for this and other worlds.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 18: Day 391: Krimson Assault

In the middle of the street near the destroyed part of town met the still functioning area where Freedom HQ was, another skirmish was breaking out between some KG robots and the Freedom soldiers. Energy bolts were flying as the soldiers strived to keep the monsters away from their barricade. However, the firefight was temporarily halted by the sound of metal straining. Both the robots and the soldiers all turned just in time to see a piece of the metal road go flying upwards thanks to a fist covered in Darkness.

Out of the hole, came the dirt and sludge covered form of Roxas, dripping with Void-knows-what from another trip through Haven City's cesspool of a sewer system. His coat was drenched and muck dripped from his grimy hair which was now a dark brown color thanks to having to swim through a couple of the subterranean waterways. The Nobody was breathing deeply and looked rather cross at the moment, especially with his Dark Arrows whirling around his hands. Raising his hands and letting out a primal scream, Roxas unleashed a massive barrage of Dark Arrows on all the red colored robots in the area while the soldiers immediately ducked behind their barricade.

The "explosion" lasted for a few moments before settling into silence again. One of the soldiers tentatively looked over the barricade to see all the KG robots slashed and gutted into little pieces by the Arrows with a heavily breathing young man standing in the center of the carnage. The other soldiers slowly got up as well as Roxas lowered his arms and started walking towards the revitalized area and to the Freedom HQ. As he passed them, they could hear him mutter to himself. "I … hate … sewers."

As he walked past the cobalt colored soldiers, one of them turned to the other. "You want to call this in or should I?" This earned him a whack to the back of his head.

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

Ashelin sighed as she looked at the reports on the bar. Jak and Daxter had retrieved the cipher necessary to break the codes for the KG war factory a week ago and now they were almost ready to attack and take it out. Right now she was going over the plans to hit the place, though in the back of her mind he was worried about Roxas. Several hours ago, they had sent the kid to Mar's tomb to clear it out. Now an hour ago he gotten reports of a massive seismic surge within that area and they all feared the worst. From the sound of it, there had been a massive cave-in near where the main chamber was supposed to be in. 'I hope he's okay,' she thought to herself as she looked over the plans again.

The baroness was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of the main door opening. She turned and was surprised to see a filthy, gunk covered Roxas enter Freedom HQ. She let out a sigh of relief, only to immediately regret it as the smell coming off Roxas was even worse then what it normally was when one of her soldiers went through the sewers. "Not that I'm not glad to see you in one piece, but you need to hit the showers. I'll debrief you later." The Nobody nodded and trudged along to where the showers were, leaving oil-like footprints in his wake. Ashelin wrinkled her nose, trying to block out the smell. "I wonder what happened to him down there?" she muttered to herself before looking at the footprints, noticing that a couple of them were now starting to eat through the floor. "Then again, I probably don't want to know," she said as she shook her head and called for a janitor.

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

Namine tentatively entered the Deep Dive of Sora's heart for the first time in weeks. Ever since the attack by that demonic cat, she had been scarred to enter here again. When she had told DiZ and Riku, they had been shocked and disturbed. The description about the cat worried them both greatly, though for different reasons. DiZ suspected it was the residual Darkness from when Sora was a Heartless taking shape and infecting him through his memories, specifically those of Wonderland and the Cheshire Cat, giving the creature's appearance and apparent powers. Riku on the other hand thought it was some kind of attack launched by the Organization to control Sora when he woke up.

'But that's not it,' the pale-haired girl thought as she stood on one of Sora's stations. That … thing didn't have the feel of one of Sora's memories, even if it had been infected by Darkness. No, that thing had been a living creature, something that had entered Sora's heart though some method, some back door. But how, how did that cat get in here? It wasn't one of Sora's memories and it hadn't had the feel of one of the Organizations' minions. No, that cat had been something else entirely, almost as if it belonged here but didn't. It was definitely connected to this place, but not through Sora. But that left the question of how that was possible. How did it get here in the first place? It then hit her like a ton of bricks. "Roxas."

That demonic cat had been allowed to enter Sora's Heart through Roxas. He had somehow made a connection with that creature and now it had free reign in here. There was no telling what damage it could do.

Immediately she set off for the area where the incomplete station was along with the small stations that apparently belonged to Roxas. As she traveled along the stained glass path, she noticed something disturbing the closer she got to the other stations. The metal holding the stained glass was showing a few minor spots of rust. Nothing obvious, but they were there. Another disturbing thing was that a few of panes had cracks in them. It was as if the pathway was starting to degrade somehow, but that didn't make any sense. Roxas and Sora was basically the same person, how could the path connecting them degrade? Namine shook off these thoughts as she continued. As she got closer to the station the bared Roxas' image, she noticed something else the alarmed her.

The stations themselves had started to change. Normally the stations had a cathedral look to them but in certain patches here on Roxas' stations they were starting to take on a more … metallic appearance. Several pipes and wires were showing and a couple of the windows themselves were being replaced what looked like intricate neon lights. The two smaller stations holding the Twilight Thorn and Red Demon were also changing. The one holding the Twilight Thorn was taking on the same style as that of the Castle that Never Was, turning pristine white with four small towers that anchored the ribbons which held it. The other station holding the Red Demon was taking on a dark, medieval look, almost like a tower of a demonic castle, with the chains holding it leading out of some stone windows. Right now both creatures seemed dormant, but whether they would stay that way was another matter. What this meant was unknown, but she couldn't ponder it as a familiar and demonic voice spoke behind her, along with a twisted grin appearing out of thin air. "Hello little mousy, have you come to play again?"

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

Roxas stood at the main meeting table in Freedom HQ along with Jak, Daxter, Torn, Samos, Keira, and Ashelin. In front of them was a holographic projection of the Krimson Guard war factory. Torn spoke first, "We got a big one here. Jak, that decoder you found, helped us decipher the main gate key for the KG war factory. We can get inside now and we need our best people on the raid," he stated looking at both Jak and Roxas.

"Oh gee, I wonder who that could be," Daxter replied sarcastically.

Samos, ignoring the ottsel, added his view of the situation. "There is a good chance that factory is doing more than making death bots."

Ashelin frowned before speaking. "We need to know who is behind all this. How are so many being made, where are they getting the supplies and eco? Something about this whole thing stinks," she snarled.

Roxas cracked his neck, doing a couple of stretches while speaking. "Well we won't find out standing around here. Let's hit the hornet's nest and see what kinda fun we can stir up," he said with a grin.

As always, Daxter had to get the last word, "Yeah, remind me when to laugh."

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

Hanging on to the blue strike craft with one hand and brandishing Two Become One with the other with Aura Blade in full force, Roxas took out any enemy drone ship that got too close while Jak piloted and Daxter manned the guns. First they had to take out the defense nodes littered around the factory and then the four main defense towers. Needless to say, it was a firestorm as blue colored Freedom ships traded shots with red colored Krimson drones. Once they had caused enough havoc outside the factory and weakened its defenses enough, they landed in front of the main gate. Immediately Roxas summoned Rejection of Fate as well as a squad of Neons. Jak went and entered the codes while the greater Nobody addressed his troops. "All right, our mission is to destroy this factory. Your job is to provide cover and support while we make our way in. Any Krimson guard bots you see are to be destroyed on sight, got it?"

All the Neons saluted and responded in unison. _Yes Commander._

From his perch on Jak's shoulder, Daxter gave an involuntary shudder. "Man, those things still give me the creeps."

Jak drew his morph gun, switching it to yellow Blaster mode. "Let's go make some noise." Roxas nodded and the group entered the death factory.

They worked their way through the factory, taking out drone after drone trying to defend it. Roxas took out any that got too close to the group while Jak focused on the flying drones. The Neons worked in unison, switching between Eco colors and clearing the way for the two warriors. As they made their way deeper into the factory, Roxas noticed something off. They were encountering robot after robot, drone after drone, but there were no people here, nothing living at all. It was as if the entire place was just one big automated machine. But that didn't make sense; someone had to have built this place. There had to be someone controlling it. He shook his head as they continued onward.

Eventually they came to a large open room with four gates around at the corners and balconies above each of them. The group looked up to see Krimson bot, though this one was unique. It stood at least twice as tall as any of the other drones, with its legs bending backwards like an insect's and its feet digit grade. Its right arm was normal sized while its left arm was huge; looking like it was also a weapon of some kind. The most interesting thing about this bot was that its head was shaped like a normal elf's head. Even more interesting was that the left side of its face was organic while the right was metal. It had bright red hair, a few marking similar to Torn's, and an insane gleam in its eyes, both the organic and cybernetic. Jak and Daxter's eye narrowed at the being, obviously knowing him well. "Erol," he hissed, causing Roxas to wonder if there was some history between the two.

The cyborg spoke with a twisted metallic voice that also held a hint of insanity. "Well well well, look at what we have here. The dark Eco freak and the Nobody. It seems my new friends were right to warn me of you," he said casually.

Their eyes widened at the implication. "You're talking to the Dark Makers," Jak accused.

Cyber Erol chuckled as he spoke. "It seems my digital self can communicate with these poor tortured minds quite well. Oh there just like you and me Jak … well me at least. They want a home, someone to call a friend … the destruction of ALL LIGHT ECO!" he snarled the last bit. "They volunteered to help me put this puny planet out of its misery," he said laughing.

Roxas snorted. "Do you really think beings like that will share anything with you? You're just a tool to them."

Jak nodded. "Yeah, they don't play nice with others, just ask the Metalheads."

The red colored cyborg ignored them. "I've been given the opportunity to wield a power not even the Precursors could control. But don't fret, neither of you will live long enough to see what I turn this little world into. Maybe a rock, or a floating pile of slag, or maybe nothing at all! Total oblivion, it's so hard to chose," he said innocently, well as innocent as a red armored, insane death cyborg could.

"We won't let you do this!" Jak snarled.

"Neons, take him!" Roxas ordered pointing his blades at the cyborg. Several of the lesser Nobodies switched to blue Eco mode and dashed up the walls towards their target. Just as they were about to strike with their blades, a dark Eco shield appeared, throwing them back to the platform below him. "Damn it!"

The cyborg laughed. "Nice try Nobody, but my friends warned me about you and those nasty minions and Keyblades of yours. This shield repels what you are and what this world will become … Nothingness!" he yelled before hurling energy bolts at them. The group scattered with a few of the Neons switching to light Eco mode and raising shields to provide cover. Jak and Roxas each avoid the blasts and the dark Eco shockwave they created.

Suddenly the barrage was stopped and suddenly a horde of death bots appeared. The Neons retaliated, but while they had quality, the bots had quantity. Jak scowled as he blasted another machine to bits with Daxter panicking on his shoulder. "This isn't working, we need to hit the big guy!" the ottsel cried out.

Getting frustrated at the situation, Roxas hooked one of the robots by the leg with Rejection of Fate and hurled the thing at Erol. The cyborg was shocked at the move as the drone hit its target, resulting in an explosion that did heavy damage and destroyed that control panel. Seeing the results, Roxas, Jak, and Daxter all had knowing grins. "Neons, use those pieces of junk and let him have it!" The lesser Nobodies complied, switching to red Eco mode, grabbing the drones, and hurling them at Cyber Erol in a barrage of metal. The cyborg snarled and dashed towards another control panel. "Oh no you don't tin man! Jak, gimme a boost!" The elf nodded and brought his hands down as Roxas ran towards him.

The elf hefted the Nobody into the air and onto the catwalk where the cyborg was before he could get to another control panel, brandishing his Keyblades. "Damn you Nobody!" Cyber Erol cried as he started to lob bolts of destructive energy at close range. Roxas knocked them to the side, taking out a number of the drones and nearly hitting Jak and Daxter.

"Hey watch it up there!" Daxter yelled as Jak blasted another bot. The clang of metal rang out and the Keyblade wielder and the cyborg went at it. The Neons continued to decimate the robots and fling the remains at the cyborg and the control panels, doing as much damage as possible. Metal and sparks were flying everywhere as the place was torn apart.

Cyber Erol continued to cross metal with Roxas, getting angrier as he did. "Do you honestly believe you will save this world you worthless Nobody?" the machine snarled. He ignored him and continued to attack with his Keyblades and Light beams, keeping the former Krimson Guard from advancing. "You may have sealed this world's keyhole, but it will still fall to Darkness! You will fail!" he snarled.

"Shut up you glorified rust bucket!" Roxas snarled as he unleashed his Chaos Blades at point blank range, sending the cyborg crashing down to the area below just as Jak and the Neons finished off the last of the death bots. He jumped down, ready to finish off the metallic maniac. Seeing no way to win, Cyber Erol ran to a nearby gateway and was gone before they could stop him, dropping a light Eco crystal on the way. "Damn it."

"See ya later mech-a-nator," Daxter chimed in as he retrieved the crystal for his partner. The victory was short lived as the entire factory start to shake, massive pieces of metal falling down and taking out part of the floor. "Ah, the sky is falling!" With that, the trio quickly made their way out of the collapsing factory, getting to the ship and taking off just as the factory fell, metal flaying everywhere and explosions ringing out all over.

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

Jak, Daxter, and Roxas entered Freedom HQ with Daxter as usual running his mouth. "We took it to that robot goon and kicked his nuts … and bolts," he said with a grin.

"Erol got away, but we shut down his robot factory," Jak informed.

Samos nodded, stroking his beard in thought. "That's good, but it is troubling to see what Erol is doing. I believe he intends to awaken that Dark Maker ship before we can destroy it."

On the other side of the hologram table was a very, VERY old elf sitting cross legged with a large bowl on her head. Though she looked frail and her eyes were pale as if she were blind, Eco energies swirled around here. Roxas could easily sense that this lady was much more than she seemed. Pecker, the monkey-bird, began to speak, relaying the words of the elderly elf. "Onin says that the Dark Makers and Precursors have fought over worlds for as long as time began. It would not be the first time a world was lost to those monsters," he relayed gravely.

Jak snarled at the bitter information. "Well it won't be this world. We've lasted this long, we just need to find a way to destroy that thing."

Roxas stepped up giving Jak a Mass Inverter mod he had picked up from the armory. While it didn't do any damage directly, it could slow down some enemies and they needed every edge they could get. He had already equipped one to Eco Surge for himself. "The answers seem to be at the bottom of the catacombs, so that's where we need to head."

Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Roxas' and Jak's communicators going off. "Roxas, Jak, please help us. Erol has attacked the monk temple. He is trying to seize the secrets we have hidden about the Dark Makers! The secrets he seeks could undo this world. More soldiers are coming, please hurry."

Roxas scowled, "Looks like shell shorts is getting desperate since we shut down his factory."

Daxter scowled. "Come on, let's go save coloring book before that overgrown tin can gets to her first." The Nobody nodded and the three were off, heading to the transport that would take them to the wastelands.

**Journal Entry Day 391: **

**Cyber Erol**

In a way, this guy reminds me of the Jabberwocky, mostly mechanical and completely insane. From what I understand, he has some history with Jak and Daxter. He used to be captain of the Krimson Guards under Baron Praxis and had helped in torturing Jak with dark Eco experiments before he escaped over a year ago. The two cross paths several times before it finally ended on the racetrack. Erol had crashed into barrels of dark Eco and was thought dead. Apparently not.

How he ended up as this metal monster, no one quite knows, but apparently he has been planning his revenge for some time. The fact that he's been in communication with the Dark Makers shows just how far off the deep end he's fallen.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 19: Day 392: Dark Eco War

Roxas held on tightly while Jak drove the Dune Hopper to the monk temple, both their faces stoic as they thought about the message from Seem. Erol was attacking the temple for vital secrets on the Dark Makers that the monks had uncovered. While Roxas had met Seem a couple of times, they were always short and to the point. Seem was as leery of the Nobody as she was of Jak, though he couldn't really blame her given her position and study of the light and dark Eco. Overall the monk appeared to be someone who needed to loosen up a little bit, but not a bad person.

It was about a half hour later after receiving her distress call that they arrived to the entrance of the temple, hoping they weren't too late. Immediately Jak brought out his Morph Gun while Roxas summoned Rejection of Fate and Two Become One along with a squad of Neons. For once Daxter was silent as there was an eerie quiet settled over the temple. The group made their way forward cautiously in the main courtyard area of the temple. The stillness of the place bothered him as he knew this was a perfect place for an ambush. A moment later, his fears were validated.

Dozens of Dark Maker soldiers appeared around them, both ground and flying units. Immediately Jak and some of the Neons opened fire while Roxas the remaining Neons went for close combat. It was madness; Eco bolts flying every which way, Keyblades flashing, beams of Light from Roxas, Shadow Arrows piercing multiple enemies. It was pure chaos as the group took out more and more of the black invaders. "We don't have time for this! The more time we waste with these guys, the more time Erol has to get to Seem!" Roxas yelled as he unleashed another wave of Chaos Blades at a group of Dark Maker soldiers.

"We need a path to the entrance!" Jak yelled back while gripping his Morph Gun in blue Vulcan Fury mode, mowing down the opposition.

Roxas nodded and yelled to the Neons, "Clear the way!" The lesser Nobodies followed their commander and started to clear a path, using mostly red, dark, and light modes to do so. The heroes made their way into the damaged temple, noticing a number of dead monks on the way. "Dammit, this is not good!" he mumbled as they basically followed the carnage throughout the temple, making their way through areas that were previously closed yet now open due to the damage. As they continued through, Roxas thought to himself as his body was on autopilot, slashing through anything metallic and dark purple and using Event Horizon to run interference. 'This isn't just some petty raid, there's no way a force this large would appear just after the fall of the factory. Erol was planning this. He was going to attack the temple and the destruction of the factory forced his hand. But what does he want here?' he thought as they made it

Eventually they made their way to the central room where the three Precursor statues stood, eyes glowing with light Eco that was keeping away the Dark Makers … for now. "Once again you stand before me great warriors and once again your heroism shall be rewarded. I grant you both a new Light power," the statue intoned as a beam of light Eco shined over both Jak and Roxas. "Power to help you reach places, places only in your dreams." While Jak had experienced this before, this was completely new to the Nobody. It was similar to when they struck the dark Eco generator only different. Unlike the wild, corrupting dark Eco, light Eco was smoother, more flowing. If he had to compare the two, it would be like different parts of a river. Dark Eco was like a wild, deep rapids whereas Light was a shallow, calm belt of water.

The light Eco changed their forms. Jak took on his Light form. He was still the same shape, but his entire body looked like it was made out of a glowing blue crystal material. His personality also altered in this form. Unlike Dark Jak where it was little more than a feral berserker, Light Jak was the opposite, calm, collected and almost constantly silent. For Roxas on the other hand, this was the first time his form had been altered by light Eco. Unlike his Vengeance and Void transformations, this was not a complete form change, most like an alteration or addition. His coat sported neon white-blue swirls at the base and on the cuffs, glowing softly with what he assumed to be light Eco. However, the biggest change for both of them was the power itself, the addition of wings.

They each gained a set of wings, though vastly different in style. Jak's wings appeared to be made of tendrils of light Eco coming out of his back with membranes made of the same material. Roxas' on the hand was made of up overlapping crystalline shards. The shards were connected by an ethereal membrane similar to Jak's and formed the shape of four large bird's wings, a larger pair extending from his shoulders with a smaller pair coming out of his lower back. The shards themselves looked like shells of Light holding in swirling Darkness and Nothingness. 'Probably because I have direct access to them while Jak is only able to use Eco,' he thought as he tested his wings, flapping them a few times to get a feel for them. Jak did the same before silently nodding to his companion. The two then continued on, using their new wings to get through the crumbling ruins.

On the way, they found more carnage caused by the Dark Makers. More monk corpses littered the place as they went deeper into what remained of the temple. Between the two of them, Roxas was more adapt to using his wings due to his glide ability. While he was able to obtain much height with them yet, he could go much greater distances than with either the wings or glide alone. They soon came to a large chasm and immediately noticed on the other side a group of Dark Makers converging on a familiar wounded form.

"Seem!" Roxas yelled before turning to his comrades. "Jak, you provide cover fire, Daxter you come with me and help Seem." The two nodded as the ottsel jumped on Roxas who took to the air. Jak whipped out his Morph Gun in Blaster mode and started unleashing some covering fire.

The monk looked to the side, obviously in pain but was happy to see them. The dark Eco infused creatures back away in shock at being shot at, giving Roxas enough time to land between her and the creatures. Daxter immediately jumped off of Nobody as he brandished his Keyblades. While he went to work, the small orange creature started to bandage what he could of monk's injuries.

Roxas slashed at the creatures, driving them back while Jak took pot shots at them. The Dark Makers hissed in pain but did not back down, knowing their leader would end them if they failed to retrieve the artifact that the monk was currently holding onto with what little strength she had. However, the Nobody was now preventing them from even getting close to the monk and the elf with the gun was not helping things either. "We must get the artifact at all costs! Focus your attacks on the Nobody!" the leader yelled in its dark Eco twisted voice.

"Jak, get your butt over here and help me get her outta here!" Daxter yelled to his long-time companion. The elf nodded and started to make his way across the chasm towards the battle, still laying down covering fire. He got to the other side and stood in front of Seem, switching modes as necessary to keep the Dark Makers at bay. "Roxas, we gotta move!" the ottsel yelled.

The Nobody nodded and unleashed a wave of Chaos blades at the dark Eco infused monsters, pushing their force back quite a ways. He ran back to Seem, picking her up bridal style and started running down another corridor with Daxter on his shoulder and Jak following close behind just after letting loose a Gyro-Buster drone to cover their escape. They ran down the crumbling halls, looking for a way to escape. Seem was still in pain from her injuries, but managed to speak. "There's a gateway down there," she said weakly while pointing with one hand and the other holding the artifact tightly to herself. The two ran and eventually got to the gateway, using it and ending up back at the entrance area of the temple. With little time to waste, they made it back to the Dune Hopper and took off into the wasteland, not caring about the Dark Makers who had teleported behind them, opening fire to stop them only to fail.

The leader snarled. "The master with not be pleased that the Nobody and the Channeler have the time map. Alert the rest of our forces to begin the attack immediately on the wasteland city. We'll wipe out both the Channeler and the Nobody in one assault!"

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Roxas held onto the red, orange, and white faced monk as Jak drove as fast as possible to get back to Spargus. Daxter had done well bandaging her wounds, but she needed medical treatment soon if she was going to survive. The two tore into the garage and were surprised to see Damas and Sig there waiting for them. "You have done well. What of the other monks?" the king asked concerned.

Seem spoke first; though it was obvious she was still hurting. "Dead. The temple has been ransacked. Erol has learned how to connect with the Dark Maker ship. If he learns how to awaken its terrible cargo, he will unleash horrors beyond our deepest nightmares," she explained, drawing a grim look from all those present. "Not all is lost. I managed to keep the most important artifact, the time map, from being taken," she said as she reached out to give it to Jak who gratefully took the device, knowing how important the thing was from his previous adventures. "I was wrong about you two. You both have the power to save us all," she said tiredly.

"You did well Seem. Roxas take her to the medical area and get her healed. Jak, we need you at the turret. The scopes are picking up large movement over the water. It's not a storm, but something else, something big. We think it's related to those dark satellites we've seen. This is your chance to repay your life debt. Sig, I want you to start organizing the troops, it looks like a major battle is upon us and I want to be ready." the king of Spargus commanded. Jak nodded and immediately left for the turret, his fuzzy orange companion on his shoulder as usual. Sig and Roxas left for the medical center to heal Seem and to rally the troops for what was most likely going to be an extensive fight.

However, it seems like they didn't have time to prepare, as halfway to the medical area, Dark Maker soldiers began to appear. "This is insane, where do these freaks keep coming from!?" Roxas yelled as he dodged a blast of dark Eco. "Sig, you're on your own, I've got to get Seem to the medical center!"

The larger, armored elf nodded. "No problem, you take care of the wounded while I take out some Dark Maker mutants."

Roxas nodded and immediately jumped up to the roof tops and took to the air with his new wings combined with his glide ability. Despite carrying the injured monk and the firefight going on all around him, he made it to the medical center in the southwest area of the city, just across from the shore line. He landed and quickly entered, setting Seem down on one of the few available cots as healers worked to save lives. Seeing that she was in good hands, he left the main entrance only to see a number of Dark Makers preparing to attack. The Nobody just sighed as he summoned Twilight Blaze and Two Become One along with more Neons. "This day just keeps getting longer," he muttered tiredly before giving the order to attack and protect the medical center.

On the other end of the city where the turret was located, Jak was blasting Dark Maker walkers left and right. The things looked like dark purple colored tanks on bird-like legs, sporting two tentacles underneath them. While they definitely had firepower, they weren't the fastest things around, making them easy targets for Jak on the turret. "Way to go buddy!" Daxter cheered for his friend while keeping an eye on the radar. "Jak, those bozos are targeting the medical center!" Jak frowned and turned the massive gun towards that direction, knowing Roxas was already there and more than likely defending the place.

The greater Nobody was doing just that, taking out enemy after enemy with the help of his Neons, though he was starting to tire out and he didn't know why. He had battled for long periods before with little rest, so this should have been no different, yet he was wearing out. He shook his head to clear it as he struck down another of the Dark Makers. When it finally looked like the waves of enemies had stopped, a large shadow appeared. Looking upwards, Roxas groaned at the sight. A Dark Maker walker stood above them.

The Nobody groaned, drained from all the fighting and powers he had been using, though he still didn't know why. Still, he would deal with that later. Right now he had to focus on the Dark Maker walker that was towering above him. Jumping back and landing on a nearby rooftop, Roxas started to channel power into his Keyblades, preparing to change into Vengeance Form when Twilight Blaze reacted. It was soaking up the power for the form change into itself, powering up for some reason. Thinking quickly, Roxas pointed the blade at the walker, not sure what would happen.

Both he and those watching from inside the buildings got their answer when Twilight Blaze flared a massive flame-like aura. It was then Roxas noticed something shooting down from the sky, a massive beam of light and fire seemingly shooting out of the sun itself form high in the sky. Eyes widening in realization, he jumped away from under the walker before the summoned solar flare slammed into the walker, obliterating it and causing a massive explosion. The explosion rang out all over the city, as if someone had taken several tons of fireworks and set them all off at once. Everyone turned to see the charred remains of the walked fall down in a haze of harmless embers.

Roxas however, had no time to enjoy the discovery of Twilight Blaze's Omega ability as he was suddenly hit by a massive surge of exhaustion. It was as if he had just used the very last of his Light, Dark, and Void reserves. In short, using the powerful Solar Strike ability of Twilight Blaze after summoning so many Neons and fighting literally all day had caused Roxas to run headfirst into the wall of exhaustion. He collapsed right there, his Keyblades disappearing in flashes of light and fire as darkness consumed him.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The black-coated form of Roxas stirred as he slowly woke. Opening his eyes, he was met with the sight of the roof of the medical area. Groaning he slowly got up. "Well, look who's up," a familiar annoying voice chirped. The Nobody turned to see the orange form of Daxter on the side of the bed he was laying in. "Hey sleeping beauty, have a nice nap?" he asked as Roxas looked around to see Jak, Daxter, and Damas standing around him.

"What happened?" Roxas asked while rubbing his eyes, a headache forming.

"After you blew up the last Dark Maker machine, witnesses said you collapsed in the middle of the street. Care to explain?" Damas said calmly.

The Keyblade wielder sighed. "I'm not sure; it was like I was just completely out of energy. Total exhaustion," he explained.

"And it is no wonder," another voice broke in, much to the surprise of those present. Fading in with his trademark grin in place was the Cheshire Cat. Jak and Daxter scowled at the demonic feline while Damas stood back, surprised and a cautious of this creature. "Using the powers of Light, Darkness, and Void so extensively is not without a price," the Cat said calmly, its eyes and fanged grin glowing softly.

"Then why hasn't this happened before?" Roxas asked confused. He had used his powers before extensively but had never actually collapsed from exhaustion before like that. The closest his could remember was when he had used Event Horizon and Magic Hour at the same time to clear away all those army ants. But even that wasn't as bad as this. It had felt like everything had been drained at once after using Solar Strike

The feline seemed to purr before answering. "To put it simply you were only using Light up until now. Recently you've gained new powers over Darkness and you're learning how to truly harness your Void abilities as well through the summoning of Lesser Nobodies. As you develop greater powers over Light, Dark and Void, you'll find that they each have a price, usually heavier than those for other more common elements." His grin seemed to lessen slightly as he growled. "You will need them for the endgame is close at hand. But beware, do not let your guard down when you have the king in check or you find yourselves in checkmate." He then faded away into black smoke, leaving no trace that he had ever been there.

"It seems there are more mysteries to you then I originally thought. Still this victory is a sign of possibility. Times are grim, but when I was the ruler of Haven City, times were grim then as well. Take hope, even the smallest weed can find shelter in the rocks." Damas stated evenly before handing both him and Jak a third battle amulet. "For you bravery today defending Spargus and rescuing Seem, here is your third battle amulet. That war amulet is a beacon. Whenever you need the wastelanders, use it to call us and we'll be there."

Jak's interest was piqued, "Wait, you were the ruler of Haven?"

The older elf nodded. "I came to the thrown during the middle of metalhead wars. Baron Praxis betrayed me and banished me to the wasteland, the rest you know. In any case, I also have some … welcoming gifts for each. For Jak, this rare Precursor armor was said to have been worn by Mar himself. I was saving it for my own son, but for now, you should wear it in this difficult time," he said as he handed the elf some orange torso armor. Combined with the armor he already had, gave him more of a soldier or hero look then before. "For Roxas I have a rather unique artifact," he said as he held out a strange amulet.

It was shaped like a reptilian creature wrapping around a central tear shaped gem. On the top was its head with a long snout, large spiny frills on the side with spike running down its neck. Around the tear shaped gem were three smaller gems arranged in a triangle, two next to the thinner part of the tear and one at the base, all dull colored at the moment. The two smaller gems near the top were held by the creature's claws while the one at the base was held by a reptilian tail that also had spikes. On the sides were two swirls reminiscent of wings. All and all, despite its obvious age, it was a beautiful amulet. "Neat, what is it?" Daxter asked the question on his and Roxas' minds.

"It is an amulet that my monks found some time ago. We've tried to date it, but have been unsuccessful. What we do know is that it reacts strongly to various type of energy, including but not limited to Eco. Given your plan to leave this world once it is saved, I imagine something like this may be of use to you," Damas explained as he handed the strange artifact to the Greater Nobody.

The reaction was immediate. The center flared with a rainbow of colors while the three smaller stones also flared, but with very specific energies. The top left gem erupted with Darkness, the left gem blazed with Light and the bottom gem sparked with Nothingness. The flare lasted for a few moments before settling down to a gentle pulse, almost as if they had a heartbeat. The center tear shaped gem now faintly swirled with multiple colors in a swirl like pattern, as if containing a small galaxy. All of them were shocked at the reaction.

"Well, that was unexpected," Jak said quietly as they all peered at the now energy infused amulet. When Roxas held it towards Damas, nothing really happened. However, when he held it closer to Jak, the artifact reacted. The Light and Dark gems blazed a little bit brighter and the galaxy swirl in the tear changed to show a shifting image. It first showed a circular symbol made of both Light and Dark, similar to the common Yin-Yang symbol, before shifting three times more. Once to a beastly face made out of Darkness, then to a serene face made out of Light, then back to the Yin-Yang symbol again before reverting to the galaxy swirl.

Damas nodded in acceptance. "It seems I made the correct choice in giving you that amulet Roxas. Use it well."

The Nobody nodded. "Thanks, we don't have anything for you," he said sadly.

The king of Spargus just smiled. "You give us hope and that is enough. Now get some rest, I have a feeling that you'll need all the strength you can get soon," he said just before leaving.

"We're gonna head back to Haven, catch up with us at Freedom HQ when you get a chance," Jak said as he and Daxter headed out. Roxas nodded and lay back staring at the amulet. As he was look into the swirl it suddenly morphed again, this time taking the shape of a demonic face with a large grin, the Darkness and Nothingness stones were flaring as it did so. In a flash of smoke, the Cheshire Cat appeared again.

"Some day huh?" Roxas asked tiredly.

The cat purred before speaking. "Indeed." He then motioned to the strangle amulet Roxas was holding. "The Tear of Chaos, also known as the Chaos Tear, a very elusive, ancient and powerful artifact. Keep it close Roxas as it will be a guide through the pathways of true chaos carved by the powers of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness. Just keep in mind seek and ye shall find, they say, but they don't say _what_ you'll find," he said before fading away again, leaving more questions than answers, as usual.

**Journal Entry Day: 392**

**Item: Chaos Tear**

It is a strange amulet in the shape of a tear in three small stones being held by a draconic creature. I got this from Damas who says no one knows where the thing came from, only that it is not Precursor in origin. Even weirder is that when they tried to date the thing the results keep coming back mixed. Some say that it's only a few years old, others that it's thousands of years old. All I know is that it shows things based on what's around it. It also seems to indicate how much Light, Darkness, and or Nothingness is around. I'll have to learn as I go alone how this thing works. How the Cheshire Cat knew about it I'm not sure I want to know.

AN: Sorry this took so long. My muse went out to lunch and didn't come back and my computer got a nasty virus, so I had to take it in to get fixed. Hope you like this chapter.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 20: Day 393: Last Charge of the Dark, Light, and Void Brigade

Roxas stretched as he got out of the medical center, working out the kinks as he stepped into the market area of Spargus. While the Dark Maker Bots had done some serious damage, almost all of it was structural, nothing that couldn't be repaired. Fortunately no lives were lost, though there were a number of injuries, mostly due to his and Jak's defense. He grabbed a couple of fruits from one of the stands and made his way towards the garage. Once he got there, Damas stood waiting.

"Ah Roxas, it is good to see you up. My scouts tell me things are coming to a head in Haven. I expect Jak will be needing backup soon, which means we need to get to Haven city," he explained as he walked over to one of the vehicles. This one was much larger than any of the others, heavily armored with what looked like a horn on the front. "As such, you and I will be heading to the outskirts of Haven with the Slam Dozer here. There is a transport waiting to take both us the vehicle."

Roxas nodded though he was a little surprised. While he respected Damas greatly, he knew the older elf usually preferred to stay in or around Spargus to help keep things orderly. That's not to say the king wouldn't do missions himself. Unlike that bastard Xenmas, Damas would not ask anyone else to do something that he himself wasn't willing to do. He was also honest and much more straightforward than Xenmas or even Ashelin and Torn. Still, the greater Nobody was a little surprised to hear the king was going himself to support Jak. He voiced his concern to the king as he got in the Slam Dozer. "No offense Damas, but why are you going? Don't you have to stay and run Spargus?"

The elf sighed before speaking. "While it is true that I am the caretaker of Spargus, I still have a duty towards Haven City and its people. Also, I am hoping that by aiding Haven, they will help me in my search for my son, Mar."

The Keyblade wielder's eyes widened as he remembered what the statue had told him back in the Tomb of Mar before it collapsed. It had basically told him that Jak had been the son of the ruler of Spargus and if Damas had been that ruler; that meant … but why then didn't Damas recognize his son? Something didn't add up here. "So uh … what's your son look like? I mean there are thousands of people in Haven, how would anyone identify him?" he asked cautiously.

Damas glanced at the blonde as they rode to the outskirts of Haven. "He will be a young boy, no older than 6 years old with blonde hair and wearing this," he said as he pulled out a copy of a very familiar red medallion, shaped like a stylized yin-yang symbol. "The amulet is a symbol of our lineage, showing of connection to the great House of Mar." Now things were even more confusing for Roxas. That was the exact amulet that Jak had with him at all times and from what the Precursor statue had said, was the heir to the city, but Damas had just said his son was a child, not fully grown, something here didn't make sense. The king noticed Roxas' confusion and immediately spoke up. "Something you want to tell me?"

The boy sighed before speaking. "I've seen that amulet before," he said much to desert king's shock. "Jak has one exactly like it. Also, when I went down into Mar's Tomb to clear it out of metalheads, I ran into a Precursor statue that told me that Jak was the heir to the city since he was the one who retrieved the Precursor Stone from there a year ago," he explained with Damas staring at him in shock.

"That's … not possible. I lost my son two years ago in Haven, according to what I've been told, Jak appeared in Haven three years ago," he said with disbelief. Still, the notion wouldn't leave him as he saw in Jak a lot of what he had once seen in his son Mar.

Roxas shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. All I know is that everything points to Jak being you best chance at finding your son and maybe even being your son. How, I don't know, but I've seen some strange things jumping from world to world, so who knows," he said simply.

Damas sighed before looking down at the dashboard of the Slam Dozer as it lit up with a standard wastelander distress beacon. "When this is all over, you, Jak, and I are going to have a long talk," he said as he drove off, following the coordinates towards what had once been the palace.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Jak stood with his pal Daxter on his shoulder, staring down three Dark Maker satellites. While one had been a challenge, taking out all three at once would be a problem. Daxter hung onto his shoulder, scared and started to speak. "Jak let me say before it's all over, riding on your shoulder, although it is kinda bony and uncomfortable, well … you've been a good pal," he said sincerely.

Jak nodded, keeping his eyes on the three satellites. "You too Dax. These adventures, they've been great," he said as he readied for the attack.

However, just as the three death machines charged at the blonde elf, the wall behind him exploded as a large armored vehicle came in and trashed all of the Dark Maker machines. Damas stood up in the driver's seat with a slight grin on his face. "Someone call for an army?"

Jak just chuckled at seeing the king of Spargus. "Well, you're a long way from the desert. I thought you said a smart warrior doesn't take his opponent head on?" he asked with a chuckle.

The sand king just shrugged. "Depends on how hard your skull is. I'd say you and I are both rather headstrong."

Roxas cut in at that moment. "Besides, we couldn't let you have all the fun could we?" Jak nodded and climbed into the passenger side with Roxas riding on top. The Nobody noticed Damas gave Jak a look but didn't say anything. It was obvious he wanted to ask about his son Mar, but now was not the time to do it. They had a world to save.

The group rode in the Slam Dozer, tearing a path through the ruins of the palace and taking out the Dark Makers and the generators for their barriers. The enemy swarmed them to try and keep them from the entrance to the catacombs, but it did little good. With Damas driving, Jak on the cannon, and Roxas defending whenever any of them got too close, nothing was going to stop them. However, it did become much more difficult when the enemy started using artillery against them, launching massive fireballs at their location. Deciding that more defense was necessary, he summoned Rejection of Fate and subconsciously concentrated power of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness into the weapon to allow it to deflect such an attack. Rejection of Fate blazed with Chaos energy as he slashed at the incoming fireball. The shot was deflected and took out an advancing squad of Dark Makers.

"Nice one! Keep it up!" Daxter called as Roxas continued to bat the energy spheres away, taking out more enemy troops as they made their way to where the center of the palace had once stood. Roxas continued to bat the artillery away, some of the shots until they finally came to the center, deep below where the palace once stood, with a pair of Precursor vehicles waiting. "Alright, nothing can stop us now!" Daxter yelled as they got out other vehicle.

Another voice cut in that belonged to none of them cut in. "Indeed, thank you for clearing the path." They all turned to see the smug grin of Veger.

"You," Damas snarled at the noble, recognizing the one who had banished him from Haven long ago and had cost him his son.

The egotistic elf just chuckled when he saw Jak and Damas standing side by side. "Well isn't this a treat, father and son together at last," he said, confusing them for a moment before Roxas spoke, putting the pieces and the story together.

"Wait, you're say that kid that was Jak …" he trailed off as realization hit them all.

The manipulative noble just smiled cruelly. "Indeed, that little boy was you Jak, the son of the great Damas. I took you in the middle of the wars in order to harness your Eco powers for my experiments, but you somehow escaped and were found by the Resistance, where I couldn't reach you. Then something unexpected happened and your future self appeared from a portal in the sky from the past, quite curious but useful all the same. So for two years there were two of you running around, the lost child heir of Haven and the time displaced dark Eco freak."

Damas' eyes just widened at the revelation. Deep down there had been some weird connection between him and Jak, but he didn't know what it was. Now it all made a twisted sort of sense. Why Jak seemed both familiar and foreign to him, Jak's Eco powers which ran through the Mar line, why Sig had never been able to find his boy, and why Jak even resembled Damas from his much younger days. Glancing at Jak, he could see both the shock and the anger at what had been taken from him. The boy looked on the verge of becoming his dark persona, his skin fading to pale white and eyes to pitch black with bolts of dark Eco arcing from his body, just to rip this arrogant traitor apart. Calmly putting a hand on the boy's unoccupied shoulder, Damas glared hard at his former advisor. "I doubt you're telling us all this out of the goodness of your heart Veger, as you know you will suffer dearly for this," he stated as a cold simple fact.

The elf just chuckled again in response. "Oh but I am. You see, I thought I would grant you the kindness of knowing, just before I go and claim the power of the Precursors and put you all out of your misery," he said before running to one of the vehicles and driving off into the tunnel.

It was silent for a moment before Damas and Jak turned to each other, not sure what to say. Deciding that time was of the essence, Roxas broke the moment. "Look, I hate to break this up, but we have to stop Veger and the Dark Makers."

Damas regretfully nodded. "He's right Jak. You, Daxter, and Roxas go after Veger, I'll head back to Spargus and rally what forces I can. We'll need all the strength we've got for this. But I promise you, when this is all over, you and I are going to sit down and catch up." Jak nodded in response, glad that he would have time with his … father when this was all finished.

Daxter then spoke, up breaking the moment. "All right, let's go after him boys."

Now the three of them were staring at the ottsel for a moment before Jak spoke. "You're willing to go down there? Without a fuss this time?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it. It's just that NO-ONE hurts MY best friend and lives to brag about it! Let's get him!" he called out as Jak and Roxas ran to the Precursor vehicle while Damas took charge of the Slam Dozer once more.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The two entered a massive area deep underground after going through the Precursor tunnels. All around them was gold colored metal like with electric blue lights with what looked like an enormous gyroscope just below them, a massive construct of Precursor technology. The vehicle came forward to a platform in front of another Precursor statue with what looked like two massive cannons, one on each side. As they approached, the statue's eyes lit up as it spoke. "Greeting great warriors, before it's too late, you must power up the planet's defense system." Jak nodded and went to the center or the platform, placing the Eco Sphere artifact in the center, causing to the two cannons to activate and charge with Eco, one light and the other dark. "The Eco sphere has begun its energy conversion; it will take some time for the weapon to charge." Before them a humanoid being appeared, shaped like one of the elves complete with the pointed ears, seemingly made out of light Eco. "You have proven yourself great warrior. We give you the gift of evolution, the honor of becoming one of us," the Precursor said as a beam of light Eco shown down in front of them

Roxas was leery of this as he didn't know what exactly the Precursors were, though Jak seemed to think it was the ultimate opportunity. However, he never got that chance as another voice broke into the scene, just as before. "Step aside!" Veger shouted while pointing a gun at them. "I will be the one to become a Precursor! The right is mine!" he said with self righteous indignation.

The being of light Eco simply waived his hand, causing the light Eco beam to shine down on the arrogant elf, imbuing him with light Eco. "Be careful what you wish for," it said simply.

Jak grimaced and looked away while both Daxter and Roxas scowled, though for the Nobody it was more in confusion than anything else. Why would these powerful being grant such a boon to a jerk like Veger? Something didn't sit right here. He was broken out of his thoughts when the nobleman got up, smirking at the lot of them. "It is done. Don't worry, it is for the greater good that I assume this role," he said as he pointed his gun at them again.

The Precursor spoke again. "Even now it may be too late. If Erol awakens the dark ship's cargo, all will be lost," it said in an almost accusing tone that did not sit well with Jak, Daxter, or Roxas.

Being who he is, Daxter decided to speak first. "Listen glow boy, we've been doing all your dirty work, while you were sleeping in the stars. So stuff it!" he snapped at the entity.

The light Eco being took a pose not unlike a parent or boss scolding a subordinate. "Inefficient! I told you we needed a backup hero other than the Nobody!" it said as if speaking to someone else. "We should have gone with plan B!" All of a sudden, the being started jerking around violently, as if someone was manhandling it. "Hey, stop, cut it out!" it cried before fading away. The chest area of the Precursor statue opened, showing a bright light even though the being was still speaking. "We are displeased with your progress, if you had been true heroes, you would have stopped Erol by now!" it accused. However, severity of the accusation was completely ruined by what stood inside the Precursor, much to the shock of all four of them.

Veger dropped his cane while Roxas summed up their thoughts perfectly, speaking for the first time since arriving in this room. "You have GOT to be kidding me!"

There, floating on three small platforms were ottsels. One with an egg shaped helmet, another with a goatee, and the center one being larger than the other two, giving the impression of an elder almost. All three were dressed in white robes and pants. They looked as shocked as the wastelanders and the noble. The center one was speaking into what looked like a microphone, the Precursor's voice matching his lips perfectly. "Yes … well, now we are even more angry and uh, order you to avert your eyes or we will … um," he stopped for a moment before realizing there was no reason to continue at this point, throwing the mike to the side, "oh bother."

"They look like … ME!?" Daxter exclaimed in shock while walking towards the other ottsels.

"Not what you were expecting were we?" the Elder said simply.

"Yeah, we like get that a lot," the one with the goatee said in a surfer like manner.

Both Roxas and Jak face-palmed, one realizing he had been doing the work of these ottsels for some time and the other realizing his future was in the hands … paws of a bunch of orange rodents. The Elder sighed, obviously used to this. "Don't look so upset, if you knew we Precursors were a bunch little, furry rats, would you worship us? Could we run the universe?" he asked rhetorically.

"Not possible dude," the Surfer chimed in, much to their continued shock. Veger was now developing a serious tick in his right eye, still gaping open mouthed.

The Elder continued, "So we fluff up the myth … a bit."

"Then we get the respect we deserve," the Dummy Ottsel chimed in.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Veger cried out in rage. "Get down there and stop defiling that glorious machine!" he cried out while pointing his gun at the orange rodents. However, before either Jak or Roxas could react, a flash of red Eco erupted from the Precursors, trapping Veger in mid-air in a red bubble-like field.

"Do not let our size fool you, we are the most powerful beings in the universe," the Elder said self assuredly.

"We are?" Dummy chimed in like a happy idiot only to get shushed by the other two.

Motioning to his small furry companion, Jak asked a question that had been bothering both of them for some time. "Why does Daxter look like …" he trailed off, motioning to Daxter.

"Ah yes, all Eco contains the source of our essence, our code so to speak. When Daxter touched the dark Eco, he was actually blessed when he thought he was cursed," the Elder explained.

Daxter then broke out dancing at the point, realizing finally just what he had become. "Woo hoo, I'm a Precursor!" Chanted it a few times while spinning and dancing around before stopping suddenly, just realizing something. "Hey, wait a minute! They have pants!" he said pointing at the three floating ottsels, who were a little surprised, themselves at the exclamation. Roxas just face palmed again at this. They had just found out that the beings that were worshiped as practically gods were orange rodents, which Daxter was one of them, and he was angry over not having pants? And he thought Wonderland was nuts.

Before he could say anything, Veger screamed as a flash of red light enveloped him, changing him into an ottsel himself. Roxas just smirked at the bastard getting exactly what he wanted and what he deserved. He then turned to the three creatures in front of him. "Question, why does light and dark Eco feel so similar to Light and Darkness," he asked as that had been bothering him since he first arrived in this world.

The Elder nodded as if expecting this question from the Nobody. "We experimented with pure Light and Darkness long ago to try and harness their powers. However we were unable to handle their inherently chaotic nature in their raw form like you can, so we refined them using our own essence as it were to create Eco. We started out with Darkness as it was much more abundant and created dark Eco. Many of our kind became drunk with the power it offered, losing themselves in their baser emotions. As you know, Darkness is closely linked to emotions and thus corrupted them. To counter this we used Light to create light Eco, though not in the same quantities of dark Eco. To supplement the light Eco, we created the other colors to counter the effects of dark Eco," the older ottsel explained.

Roxas nodded, though there was still something that bothered him. "What about Nothingness? Why isn't there an Eco based on that?"

The surfer chimed in at this point. "Nothingness is like way tricky dude. It was hard enough for us to find the stuff let alone try to refine it. You know how much of a headache it is trying to refine something that both is and isn't there?" Roxas nodded in understanding though Jak and Daxter looked a little confused. Veger was still mourning becoming a dark orange rat.

"Regardless," the Elder interrupted, "the only way to make sure Erol doesn't awaken the Dark Ship's cargo is to go there your selves and stop him. We will transport you there from here," he said as a portal opened up near the huge gyroscope behind them. Roxas just pointedly looked at the two cannons that were still charging with Eco, wondering if these fur balls were trying to get them killed.

The Surfer could see his unease with the idea. "Chill out man. You should have mondo minutes to go there and get back here before …"

Elder, "HOPEFULLY before …"

Dummy, "BABOOM, oh yeah baby!"

Jak nodded and turned to leave with Daxter on his shoulder, ready to go. "Let's move!" Roxas nodded and all three of them went into the portal, storming the Dark Makers ship.

Once they were gone, the Elder scowled at the other two. "You idiots! I told you we needed a plan B!"

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Jak, Daxter and Roxas landed in the Dark Maker's ship, all around them twisted metal infused with dark Eco. As soon as they entered, the alarms went off and the two readied for an insane fight. Roxas summoned Lunar Eclipse and Two Becomes One. Immediately they were assaulted by Dark Maker soldiers. Jak immediately switched to red Plasmite RPG mode which easily broke through their shields while Roxas hammered away with his Keyblades. Interestingly, he could feel Lunar Eclipse react to all the dark Eco in the ship, absorbing the aura and increasing its power. He absently wondered if his other Keyblades could do the same, but that was some to be looked into later. Right now the three of them had to get to Erol and shut him down for good, both literally and figuratively speaking.

The soldiers tried to stop their progress, but it was useless. The trio was on a mission to find the Krimson Guard cyborg and nothing would get in their way. Trashing the ship as they went, they eventually came to what looked like the main launch bay. Around them were massive machines, looking like mobile fortresses on multiple legs and a single long neck with a control turret. In front of them was Erol, looking like a guy walking in a sports car dealership trying to decide which one to test drive. Daxter voiced their thoughts instantly. "If these nasty things ever wake up, the planet's finished."

They ran up to the cyborg, Jak snarling at him. "You're through Erol! We're taking you down!"

The twisted machine that had once been a Krimson Guard just smiled at them. "We can't have that. I have a schedule to keep and my partner would be most upset if I deviated from it."

All three of them raised an eyebrow at that, readying their weapons. "What partner?" Roxas asked cautiously. However he got his answer when they heard a loud crash behind them.

They turned to see a massive hulking form in front of them. It stood on two legs and was vaguely shaped like a large ottsel, but that was where the similarities ended. It was at least fifteen feet tall, heavily muscled, with sharp, dagger-like fangs, and blazing purple eyes that gleamed with dark Eco. Its fur was pitch-black with it being dark orange on its chest and stomach. It extended its clawed hands as a long thick tail lazily waived behind it. Crystalline spikes of pure dark Eco protruded from its back and tail. Dark Eco just oozed from this thing as if its very body was generating it. The creature spoke in a dark twisted voice. "Well we finally meet. The hero, the Precursor, and the Nobody. You three have given me a lot of trouble. Now I will end your interference!" it … he snarled.

Roxas and Jak went back to back with the elf pointing his gun at the cyborg while the Nobody stared down the mutated Precursor. "So, you want the trash compactor and I'll take Daxter's evil twin?" Roxas muttered with a grin. Jak just gave a mirthless chuckle as an answer before dashing forward, each going after their respective monster. However, their brawl was stopped before it even started as a beam of light and dark Eco struck the ship, tearing through it easily. "Looks like this will need to be postponed. LET'S MOVE!" Roxas yelled as he unleashed a blast of Chaos Blades at the Dark Leader, clearing a path as the hanger they were in started to collapse, the void of space ripping apart the exposed part of the ship.

Seeing his chance, Erol entered one of the Dark Terra-formers and launched it, leaving the Dark Leader on his own. Roaring, the corrupted Precursor charged after them towards the warp gate. Jak and Daxter went through first. However, just as Roxas was about to go through, the Dark Leader just tackled him, shoving both of them through just as the Dark Maker ship exploded.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Jak and Daxter landed in the sandy wasteland, just outside of Spargus. Daxter was the first to speak. "Woo hoo! We made it!" he said as he looked around. He then noticed one of the trio was missing. "Roxas? Hey Roxas! Where'd ya go!?" he shouted out looking around frantically. He then turned to his long time companion. "Jak, where'd Roxas go?" he asked almost timidly.

Immediately Jak turned on his communicator, yelling into it desperately. "Roxas! You there man!? Are you all right?" he pleaded through the machine.

A few crackles of static before a familiar tired and worn voice came through. "Define all right," the Nobody replied sarcastically with a cough.

Jak sighed in relief that his comrade wasn't dead. "Well where are you?"

More static before the reply came. "That's the problem. I'm on top of the volcano on one side with Daxter's ugly cousin on the other giving me the evil eye. Even worse is that Erol made it here in one of those black mobile fortress things and is currently on the other end of the island making his way towards Spargus."

Daxter's mouth just dropped in shock. "These guys just won't quit!"

Jak then opened another channel to Damas. "Damas, this is Jak."

The sand king's voice came over communicator. "Jak, good to hear you're alive. What's going on? Our scanners have picked up something huge on the other end of the island."

"Erol has landed with a Dark Maker mobile fortress. Mobilize every wastelander you can, this is the big one. Me and Daxter will go on ahead," Jak replied.

"Where's Roxas?" Damas asked.

The Nobody's voice cut in at that moment. "I'm taking care of the Dark Maker's butt-ugly leader. You guys go after Erol and defend Spargus. I'll be taking out the black king; you will need to take out the black advisor. We have them in check, let's put them in checkmate," he said with a grin in his voice.

"Let's go!" Jak ordered as he climbed into the Sand Shark.

"The last charge of the Dark, Light and Void brigade!" Daxter announced as he, Jak, and the wastelanders all drove off to take down the mobile fortress.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Roxas hung up the communicator as he stared down the Dark Leader who was snarling at him. The two started to circle one another, Roxas with Two Become One and Twilight Blaze, the Dark Leader with his claws crackling with dark Eco, and the magma bubbling just below them. They said nothing, each watching the other for moment when their fight would begin. The signal came from the first explosion in the distance as the wastelanders attacked the Dark Terra-former.

Roxas dashed forward, both Keyblades blazing with energy while the Dark Leader did the same. The Dark Leader slashed downward, his claws blazing with dark Eco. Jumping over the attack, Roxas struck at the crystal-like protrusions on the creature's back, doing damage to the corrupted Precursor. The creature quickly turned around and started slashing with its claws, Roxas dodging or deflecting the strikes as best his could. They were wild and uncontrolled, most likely due to his rage, but they held a great deal of power both from the dark Eco and the Dark Leader's physical strength. The speed increased until Roxas was able to get a clear slash at the creature's face, specifically over the left eye.

Roaring in pain and rage, the Dark Leader backhanded the Nobody away, causing him to skid across the top of the volcano crater towards the edge, nearly dropping into the magma pool below. Quickly getting up, he started running as orbs of dark Eco flew at him, destroying the rock face around him with fury apparent in his remaining eye.

Moving quickly, Roxas dodged the deadly spheres, switching out Two Become One for Lunar Eclipse as he did so. Thinking quickly, he summoned his Light Shields and generating several Light beams to counter. When the spheres of dark Eco met the Light beams the resulting explosions shook the whole area, causing a reaction in the volcano. The seismic shockwave combined with the energies the two were unleashing were making the entire mountain unstable.

The Dark Leader jumped up, gathering energy in his fist for what Roxas recognized as a Dark Bomb, just like what Jak did. Thinking quickly, he too jumped into the air and summoned his Light Wings, floating/gliding above several meters above the ground as the twisted Precursor hit. Despite not being hit by the blast, the shockwave created by the Dark bomb knocked him out of the air and into the fiery pit below, landing on one of the lone rocky islands in the sea of burning magma.

Leaping down, the Dark Leader roared again in rage. "I'LL CRUSH YOU!" he screamed as it started to spin like a top. Almost immediately he was engulfed in dark Eco, turning himself into a dark purple tornado of power. The surge of energy was causing the already unstable area to reach critical mass. The volcano was going to erupt and they were in the dead center of it.

"Well, I might as well go out in a bang," he muttered to himself as Twilight Blaze ignited and Lunar Eclipse transformed into Rejection of Fate, also igniting with energy. "VENGEANCE!" he screamed as black and red energy engulfed, changing him into his more draconic form. With Blaze Ignition and Stand Firm activated, Roxas dug himself in and met the tornado head on.

A truly dark unstoppable force met a determined immovable object as the dark Eco tornado clashed against Roxas' crossed Keyblades. Black and red energy arced all over the crater from the point of contact, furthering the reaction, guaranteeing the volcano would blow. At that moment, neither care what would happen as long as they took the other down with them. The energy built and built, growing brighter and more violent as the Dark Leader pressed his attack against the immovable crimson Nobody. Finally, it reached critical just as the volcano itself let loose it's pent up power.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The Terra-former control pod fell as the last of it's on board weapons and defenses were destroyed by Jak and wastelanders. They had first made sure support conduits on its legs were destroyed. It stumbled and crashed right into the side of the volcano that had been rumbling violently, right on top of the metalhead nest. Once it had crashed, they had swarmed the thing, with Jak and Daxter leading the way and taking out Erol with the Peace Maker. The twisted cyborg lay in a heap as he crawled out of the wreckage, rage plain on his metallic features. The wastelanders cheered as Damas' voice came over their communicators. "We've crippled him, now move in and let's finish this!" the sand king ordered.

Erol sneered from his damaged control pod on the Terra-former. "I will kill every last one of you, especially you … JAK!" the twisted cyborg screamed. However, before any could make a move, the entire island started to shutter as the volcano finally erupted.

"The volcano's about to blow chunks! Hot, flaming, big chunks!" Daxter cried out as a massive column of molten rock and dark Eco.

"EVERONE FALL BACK! TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER!" Jak screamed as everyone scrambled to get out of there as massive pieces of rock and Eco fell from the sky as if they were being bombed. A torrent of magma spewed out of the side of mountain, flowing directly for the Terra-former. The wastelanders got in their vehicles and drove off as a waterfall of molten rock slammed into the dark Precursor machine, drowning out Erol's screams of rage and horror.

Once they were a good distance away, Jak and Daxter watched the magma hit the river as well as continued to flow towards the sea. The sight was both beautiful and horrible. It was horrible in the absolute destruction and yet beautiful in that things were finally coming to a close. However, there were still a few loose ends to tie up. One of which was voiced when the ottsel asked tentatively, "Jak, where's Roxas? Wasn't he on top of that thing when it blew?"

Before he could answer, a ball of black, white, and red energy spiraled from the sky, landing just outside of Spargus' gates. Racing quickly to the site, the wastelanders saw a massive plume of smoke where the object landed. In the center of the smoke a dark form emerged. Fearing the return of the Dark Leader, all of them readied their weapons as the form walked out of the smoke. Once the smoke cleared they saw … Roxas, beaten, bloody, barely holding onto his Keyblades but grinning like a madman Roxas.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

In the center of the arena in Spargus stood a massive Precursor ship with the same three ottsels that Jak, Daxter, and Roxas had encountered deep beneath the catacombs. Roxas had been patched up and was standing with all those who had fought and survived. The Elder ottsel spoke first. "Thank you brave people of this planet. Onin, Samos, Damas, Jak, Daxter, Roxas and all. You courage, wisdom, and strength give us strength in these dark times to fight on," he said with sincere gratitude.

Samos sighed, looking slightly depressed. "My life's work it turns out was spent searching for a bunch of fur balls." The old, green elf had been researching Eco and the Precursors for ages as the Sage of green Eco. To find that his so-called deities were the same creature as Daxter, well it would be a let-down for anyone.

The Elder continued, "Jak, Daxter, and Roxas, you are the greatest of heroes. Your actions have turned the tide against the Dark Makers and together we will win this war."

The Surfer chimed in, "But dudes, there are like way more challenges in the future."

"Or is it the past?" Dummy added.

"Yes, yes I was getting to that," Elder said sourly at being interrupted.

Jak sighed, "More adventures, where have I heard that before?"

"We need heroes like you to help us protect the universe," the Elder explained.

Jak was silent for a moment, looking back at his friends then at Daxter and Damas respectively. "Thanks, but I'm needed here. Besides what would Dax do without me right?" he said with a grin.

Daxter chimed in at that point, "Yeah, you can't break up a winning team like this."

"We owe you much Daxter for all you've done" the Elder said sincerely, knowing it was not easy for ottsels, "For bravery in the face of incredible danger, we will grant you your deepest desire."

Roxas decided to intervene, almost knowing what the orange rodent was going to ask for. "Hey Dax, might I make a suggestion? Why not ask for the ability to change from ottsel to elf and back? You know, have the benefits of both?"

The orange rodent smiled. "Yeah, I like that idea. Go for it … and throw in a pair of pants like yours for this form while you're at it." The Elder nodded and fired a beam of Eco at the ottsel. In a flash there was an elf in his place, wearing standard wastelander attire with dark orange hair tipped with red, two buck teeth, and a pair of goggles on his head. "Whoo-hoo! Finally!" Daxter said as he stretched in his elf form for the first time in ages. He then stopped and concentrated a little bit. In a flash was Daxter back in his ottsel form, this time with a pair of jean shorts; fitted for his smaller size and tail. He moved around, getting the feel for the new and much wanted piece of clothing.

Tess just cooed at this. She could now have all she wanted. "Wow, those are sharp. I wish I had a pair just like them," she said happily.

"Be careful what you wish for," the Elder said as he zapped Tess. In a flash was a female ottsel with blonde hair, shorts, and a green top. She looked surprised as she stood up, not believing what happened. Daxter just looked at the Elder who gave his fellow ottsel a wink, letting him know that he had given his girl the same power as him.

Dax just grinned, "Don't worry honey, you get used to it. Oh and you may want to shave a few places. Trust me on that."

Roxas spoke up again at that point. "Speaking of debts owed. You guys owe me a way to get back to the World that Never Was," he said speaking to the Precursors.

The Elder nodded and floated over a dark orange metal brace that attached itself to the Nobody's right forearm. It flipped open to show a computer screen with flashing characters and symbols. "This device will act as a compass as you travel from world to world. With each world it will gather data and eventually point you towards the World that Never Was. It will also keep a record of any and all information. To activate it, simply channel some Light, Darkness, and Nothingness into it as you create your corridors. It has many other functions and will aid you on your journey."

Roxas nodded and fed all three Primal elements into the device. It sparked to life, channeled the Light, Darkness, and Nothingness and formed a Corridor of Chaos in front of him. He then turned to his friends. "Well, looks like this is it."

Jak walked forward, offering his hand. "Thanks for your help," he said simply.

Damas spoke from his throne. "We are all indebted to you Roxas. If you ever need us, just ask and we will be there."

Ashelin walked up to the Nobody and planted a kiss on his cheek with a smile. "You take care and come back some time."

Roxas nodded and smiled back at his friends. Pulling up his hood, he turned towards the portal and jumped in, heading for the next world, continuing his journey to return to the World that Never Was.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Far away from the celebration, where the remains of the Terra-former lay under the still smoldering magma, something stirred. The ground cracked and dark, twisted claw shot out … oozing dark Eco.

**Journal Entry Day 393**

**Deception:**

I have to say, finding out that the gods of this world was ottsels was a shock. To think that they were deceiving so many people just to be able to rule everything. I'm not sure what to feel about that. While on one hand I don't like being deceived and I know it causes problems if uncovered, on the other I can sort of understand why they did it. Those orange rats did it so that they could take care of people better, to guide them with less trouble. Is deception okay if it's done with the best intentions? I'm not sure I'll ever know.

AN: Sorry this took so long, but it's hard to write something epic for a game that already had an epic ending to begin with. Still, I hope you all like the chapter. Onward to the next world … Okami.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 21: Day 394: From the City to the Country

It was on the late afternoon when the Chaos Corridor opened. The swirling vortex went unnoticed as Roxas tumbled out, still not used to the difference between them and normal Darkness Corridors. He stood up and looked around the area he had landed in this time. It was a lush forest with a dirt path leading to a nearby clearing. Already he would tell the difference from Jak and Daxter's world as the air here was much cleaner. Looking around he saw some dirt roads splitting off and going in several directions. One main road down the middle of this canyon like place with a diverging road going up towards the top of a cliff, most likely to a settlement of some kind, and another going through some kind of gate and into … a stone wall? Weird. There were also two large wood pillars standing on the side of road near a waterfall and pond, close to where he had landed. Between the pillars was a rope that hung long, massive scrolls. The scrolls, when lined up next to each other, depicted a white horse with odd extensions and red highlights. On its back was a saddle with what looked like a hand fan. In any case, he saw a road sign in the middle of the intersection and decided to start there. As the Cheshire Cat said; when knowing where you're going is preferable to being lost, ask.

Deciding to try out his new toy, he opened the computer and started to press on the touch screen. Immediately the Compass, which is what he decided to call the thing given what it was supposed to do, came to life. Pointing it at the sign, the machine immediately scanned and translated it. The arrow pointing to his right said Agata Forest, the one pointing to the odd wooden gate said Sasa Sanctuary, and the one to the left said City Checkpoint. Considering one road went to a forest and the other went into a wall, Roxas turned left to head for the Checkpoint.

He entered another area, more open than the one behind him. However, as soon as he did, he felt the Chaos Tear flare up. Quickly pulling it out, he saw that the Darkness Gem was blazing, almost forming a small pillar on the piece of jewelry. On the center tear he saw an emblem that he recognized instantly. He had seen it many times on his missions for the Organization. It was the emblem for the Heartless. His fears were confirmed when he heard a woman's scream nearby. 'Time to go to work,' he thought as he summoned Two Becomes One and Rejection of Fate.

Running forward he came to a large camp area with what looked like a small restaurant to the side of the road along with a number of tents and camp sites. On the far side was a cliff with a massive drawbridge pulled up on the other side. There were also two large statues that were on fire in the shape of a bird. He could see a group of people being backed into the side of the canyon by a type of Heartless that Roxas had never seen before. They stood upright, were human shaped, and were about one and a half times as tall as the standard Soldier Heartless. They wore sandals, a long purple battle skirt, gray colored robes, a blood-red sash tied around their waist, and a flat, cone-like hat on their heads with eye markings similar to what he had seen on other Heartless. They had the Heartless emblem on their chests and carried long spear with the Heartless emblem being the blade.

Reacting quickly he dashed forward, causing the Heartless to turn their attention towards him. They had no mouths, but their yellow eyes narrowed at the sight of the Keyblades. Forgetting their prey, they went and attacked the greater Nobody. Roxas countered by flaring Two Become One and unleashing a wave of Chaos Blades at them, taking out the first line and heavily damaging the ones behind. He engaged the Heartless and already he could tell they were different then other Heartless he had faced. Most others he had faced, bar larger ones, were usually pretty mindless and reacted like instinct driven animals at best. These ones however were acting differently.

As he slashed and blocked, he noticed that they were attacking together in patterns, trying to cut off escape routes and to attack him from behind while he was occupied with others. Some were using their spears to try and hold his weapons in place to essentially disarm him. In short, these … Spearmen were using teamwork, something Heartless simply didn't do, not to this level any way. Deciding to end this quickly, he summoned his Light Shields and used the beams to tear through them at a distance. In short order they were all dispelled, their imprisoned hearts floating up into the sky before fading away.

Banishing his Keyblades, he turned to look at the people who had been attacked, now staring at him in shock and awe at his power. The first to speak was a small girl in a light orange kimono with light green trim with short black hair. "Thank you mister for getting rid of those demons," she said breaking the silence. Roxas pulled down his hood, showing his face and calming some of the people who hadn't been able to see it before.

An older girl in a similar kimono who with a large hat on her head and bearing a resemblance to the smaller girl came up and gave a small bow to Roxas. "Yes, thank you for aiding us stranger. Those demons are getting bolder every day, making it dangerous to travel. We are indebted to you," she with utmost politeness.

"Then maybe you can help me by telling me where I am and what's going on here." His stomach rumbled and he gave a lopsided grin. "I could also do with some food if you have some to spare," he asked them.

An old woman came up from behind the two girls with a chuckle. "Don't worry about that young man. For what you did, I'm sure we can spare a few dumplings and some tea."

Soon they were sitting at the small tea shop that was located next to the checkpoint. While Roxas didn't really care for the tea, he did like the dumplings as he turned to the two girls. "My name's Roxas. So can you tell me what's going on here?"

The older girl spoke, sipping tea slowly as she did. "My name is Camille and this is my sister Camellia. We've been traveling across the country, following the path of sacred trees planted by our ancestors to try and discover our roots. However, travel has been difficult since about a couple weeks ago." The older sister shuddered for a moment before continuing. "It seems that the monster Orochi was released, causing demons all over to become active."

The blonde boy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What is an Orochi?"

The girl took another sip of tea to calm herself before speaking. "Orochi was a massive eight-headed serpent, as big as a small mountain with terrible power. A hundred years ago, he was slain and sealed by the warrior Nagi into the Moon Cave, which lies to the far northeast of here. However, Orochi was released when the sword Tsukuyami was removed. The result was that demons everywhere became awake. Though according to rumor, Nagi's descendent Susanoo defeated Orochi. Other demons have also appeared but were later killed. A massive spider in Agata forest and a fire demon known as Crimson Helm in Kusa Village just east of here."

The greater Nobody was silent for a moment before asking his next question. "What about those creatures that were attacking you when I arrived? What do you know about them?"

It was another traveler who spoke up this time, a man in a blue tunic who was sitting nearby. "Those demons are new. No-one has seen them before nor does anyone recognize the emblem they bear. Since the roar that heralded Orochi's return, they have begun appearing. Just a few appeared at first, small creatures, bearing no emblem, then larger ones in strange armor and most recently those Spearmen. They all appeared heavily around Sei-An City, but not in the city itself. This is the furthest they been seen from the city."

The Keyblade user frowned. That didn't make sense. Heartless tended to gravitate towards places with a lot of people, with a lot of hearts to consume. Why would they attack travelers around the city, but not in the city itself? He turned to Camille, "What about the city itself? Any rumors about that?" he asked concerned.

The tea customer sighed before speaking. "At the moment there are only rumors. Not even the checkpoint guards know why the drawbridge has been raised. Personally I think something fishy is going on. One rumor I heard is that there's some mysterious illness blanketing the city. It came around about the same time the bridge was raised."

Another man spoke up, this one was rather stout and in an odd uniform with a bow. "You know the phoenix statues here?" he said pointing to the twin birds on fire standing where the bridge would be if it were lowered. "Normally they protect the checkpoint with sacred flames that drive away evil demons. However, they were out until recently. There's also the rumor that a massive curse zone that happened so close to the Kamiki Festival that's held each year. What bothers me though are those black demons. The sacred flames should have kept them away, but they didn't. It might be the 100-year curse!"

Roxas shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Those creatures were called Heartless and their not evil … not really."

All the travelers camping in the area looked at him curiously. Camille voiced the question they were all thinking. "You know those demons?"

"Not demons, Heartless," he said almost automatically. He then started speaking, remembering his lessons from his first few weeks with the Organization. "Heartless are creatures born of pure Darkness. There are two kinds, Pureblood and Emblem. Pureblood Heartless bare no emblem and formed from Darkness itself. Emblem Heartless are formed when a living being's heart is consumed by Darkness. Heartless are not evil by nature, just …" he paused trying to find the right word to describe the creatures. Even after hunting them for a more than a year, he still wasn't sure what he thought of them. "… feral. They act on pure emotion and instinct. They can't plan or coordinate in a big way, not without someone … or something directing them."

The old woman, Mrs. Pine, who owned the tea shop, got it first. "You think these … Heartless are being controlled by a demon? Using them to go where they can't?" she voiced what many were now thinking. Some were shaking at the idea. People relied on talismans and prayers to keep demons away, but if those demons now had servants that could go past those protections … many didn't want to think about it.

The blonde nodded solemnly. "It would make sense. You said those flames ward away demons, but the Heartless aren't demons. They just do what their instincts tell them. It would also explain how they fought and their actions around the city. Heartless always appear in areas with lots of people, lots of hearts for them to seek out. For them to avoid going into the city along with this weird mist, yeah I think someone or something is the using them. How do I get to Sei-An City?" he asked.

The portly guard sighed. "You would simply have to follow the coastline to where the port is to get there. But you can't, not with the Great Drawbridge pulled up. The only way it will be lowered is if Queen Himiko gives the order."

Roxas just smirked. "Not a problem for me. I'll get across and head to city," he said while getting up. "Well, thanks for the food and tea. I'll head towards the city and see what can be done," he said as he turned towards the checkpoint on the other side of the ravine. Gauging the distance, he started to run towards the edge and when he got there he jumped, much to the traveler's shock. The instant he was air born he used his glide ability as well as summoning his Light wings. A few beats of the wings and he made it to the other side with no problem. Standing on the checkpoint building on the other side, he turned and waved at the people, most of which were still stunned at what they had seen. Turning away he continued onward. If he had stayed a few more moments, he would have seen a strange white wolf with red markings enter the checkpoint on the other side of the ravine.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The greater Nobody entered the coast and was both amazed and shocked at what he was seeing. While he had seen a coast line before on Jak and Daxter's world, this one was far less rocky and more like what you would see near a resort. To his right was what looked like a small graveyard with a large bell and steps leading to a temple of some kind in a style he had never seen before. Over all it was a beautiful sight … except there was one problem. 'Looks like I finally got to the beach, too bad it's ruined by that … Darkness?' he thought as he walked forward cautiously, absently bringing out the Chaos Tear and the Compass as he did.

What was in front of him was this massive Dark energy field that was covering nearly all of the area. Everything caught in the field looked deadened, darkened, and far less vibrant than it should be. Even the area that only around the field and not in it was affected, shrouding the area, darkening the sky and blackening the water. The energy field, what he assumed to be the curse zone that the travelers had mentioned before, seemed almost alive in a sense. Roxas could clearly see the border where the zone ended, though there were extensions, like a slow moving sludge along the edge, showing that the zone was slowly increasing in size. The Tear sparked to life, the Dark Gem flaring but the Light and Void gems were also faintly glowing, showing that whatever was in front of him was NOT pure Darkness. It was also flashing several strange characters or glyphs that the blonde didn't understand. Channeling some power into the machine on his arm, he gave a vocal command. "Compass, uh … what is this field thing and what do these symbols mean?" he asked unsure if the device would respond.

Apparently it did and replied back in a female voice with a metallic tone to it. [Designation acquired. Set as "Compass". Analyzing energy field. Energy field is composed of Darkness diluted to 13% with varying density and unknown added elements. Source of energy field is unknown.] It stopped for a moment before starting again, this time the screen showing the same symbols as what the Tear of Chaos had been flashing a moment before. [Translating. Character translation complete.] It said as it displayed the meanings for each character. Roxas frowned at what he was reading. Darkness, curse, hatred, and misfortune. Whoever or whatever had set this up was not friendly.

"Compass, how far does this … cursed zone go?" he asked as he slowly approached the border. Cautiously he placed his hand inside. Immediately he could feel the curse zone react, trying to corrupt him but completely unable to do so. He had lived in the World that Never Was, fought Heartless the very embodiment of true Darkness on a regular basis, and even traveled through Darkness as often as people walked to their jobs. With the Darkness in the cursed zone being diluted and completely unable to affect him even if it wasn't, the overall effect of the zone was reduced significantly. Still, there was something to it. It was like placing his hand through water, though only slightly less thick and with a strange tingling sensation, most like the "unknown elements" trying to corrupt him and failing.

The Compass chimed again. [Analysis complete. Displaying local area affected by energy field designated as "curse zone" with varying densities.] The screen now showed just how large the field in front of him was, reaching out quite a distance from the shore and inland as well. However, there were two things that bothered the Nobody. The first was while the zone easily stretched towards the city; it only went around it and did not cover it like it did the rest of the land. The second was that nearby the edge of the zone was much less dense, as if something was trying to hold the curse zone back. Before he could investigate however, a thunderous explosion rang throughout the area.

Turning quickly and pulling his hood up, Roxas ran back towards the checkpoint, Keyblades blazing for a fight. When he got there he was stunned. The entire checkpoint had been leveled, nothing but smoking ruins of the government buildings that had been there just minutes before. The only thing left was the bridge itself which was now lowered to allow anyone to pass. There were also small patches of Darkness, similar to the cursed zone but on a much smaller scale, litter around what was left of the checkpoint. Roxas quickly scanned the area for the cause. He knew the Heartless didn't do this as they only sought to collect hearts. Large scale damage like this was not something they would normally do. 'But whoever or whatever is controlling them might. The question is; why would they want the bridge lowered? All it did was allowing people to escape from the cursed zone and the Heartless,' he thought to himself as he carefully went forward. He noticed one of the guards from before running towards him. But was unable to say anything as the slender man with a gold archery bow ran right past him. Shaking his head, Roxas turned around to find a strange sight.

It was a wolf, a large white wolf. Despite never seeing a wolf before in his short life, Roxas knew this was no ordinary animal. For one thing it didn't make sense for a white wolf to live in a forested area like this, the coloring was wrong, so this creature was not native to this place. Another thing was that it had strange, feather like extensions and bright red markings, much like that horse picture he had seen before on the hanging scrolls. Last but not least, this wolf had a strange disk floating just above its back with tendrils of crimson, fiery energy whipping around it as it spun.

Immediately the Tear of Chaos reacted. Pulling it out, the Light gem flared brightly with the Void gem also glowing, though nowhere near as much. The Darkness gem was lifeless and the tear itself showed the image of … a circle? It was a red circle that looked to be on fire with another of those characters on it. Quickly translated it meant shine, meaning this circle was a shining ball of fire? Was this supposed to be the sun or something? Whatever this creature was it was not a Heartless nor was it a normal creature. Deciding to be cautious, he slowly walked towards the creature, Two Become One and Rejection of Fate still in his hands.

On the other end of the clearing, the sun goddess Amaterasu Okami stared at the strange boy in front of her, at least he looked like a boy. Obviously he had come due to the explosion, but where he had come from was another matter. His clothes pegged him as a foreigner as no one wore a black coat like that and those swords were powerful. She could sense from here that they were not normal and could possibly be on par with any one of her Divine Instruments. The most disconcerting thing about the approaching young man was that he had no real smell. Oh there were smells on him, mostly of metal and chemicals that she didn't recognize that he most likely came into contact with, but there was no scent coming off of the boy himself. The sun goddess also couldn't sense anything substantial where the boy stood, almost like a moving dead zone lacking any kind of real filler. It was as if the boy both was and wasn't there at the same time, making his aura hard to read. He wasn't a spirit, he was too solid looking for that and certainly didn't feel like one. He also wasn't a demon, again the aura wasn't there. To put it simply, this boy was something new. However, before either could make a move or say anything, the Poncle on her head decided to make himself known.

"Hey kid, you okay? You didn't get caught in the blast did ya?" a small green ball yelled at Roxas, startling him. He lowered his Keyblades as he approached but still kept them ready. He looked down to see … a bug? No, it was a small person, just like that fairy he had met in Neverland. This one was vastly different however as before it had been a small glowing girl with wings who had never said anything while this one looked like a small samurai with a beetle like hat.

Raising an eyebrow under his hood, Roxas looked down at the sprite. "No, I was at the coast when I heard it. What happened?" he asked as he kneeled down to the wolf's level as it approached with the bouncing ball. He dismissed Two Becomes One to pet the wolf who was now sitting nicely in front of him.

The small person chuckled nervously before answering. "Well that was kinda our fault. We need to get to Sei-An City and the only way to do that was to lower the bridge. The guard with the bow said they would lower it if he shot a flaming arrow, so we lit one of his arrows on fire while he was practicing. Unfortunately it landed in the powder storage area and the whole place went up," the small bouncing ball explained. Roxas nodded in understanding and was about to ask another question when the Chaos Tear flared up. Taking it out quickly he saw the Darkness gem flare intensely and the symbol of the Heartless appeared.

The greater Nobody quickly stood up, summoning Two Become One searching for their attacker. The wolf also took up an aggressive posture, sensing something as well. Both looked around, but didn't see anything. 'Where is it? The Tear wouldn't react like that unless the Heartless was near. So where … oh crap,' he thought as he realized what it was they were facing. His thoughts were confirmed when he saw two glowing eyes. "GET DOWN!" he yelled as he ducked under the twin laser beams. Both he and the wolf turned towards the source to see their real enemy appear. It stood nearly twice as tall as Roxas with dark green skin and black strips, hunched over with five spikes on its backs, with three clawed feet and hands, a large horn on its snout, and a long tail that was curled around in the a spiral like swirl. Roxas had seen this type of Heartless before, even read about this specific one, but never actually faced it before. "Great, a Stealth Sneak," he muttered to himself.

However, the tiny bouncing person with the beetle hat heard him. "Stealth Sneak, kid you know what that thing is?" he said in a surprised voice as it spoke from on top of the wolf's head.

"Explanations later, right now we have to take that thing out!" he yelled as he dashed at the large Heartless. The chameleon like creature swiped with its claws at Roxas. The Keyblade wielder dodged to the side and slashed at the creature's side. The Stealth Sneak screeched in rage and spun around with its tail, knocking him away before he could block. Roxas flew through the air and landed hard into a tree, dizzied from the strike.

Amaterasu growled and dashed forward at the unknown demon. Seeing her coming, it lashed out with its whip like tongue. She dodged to the side and got in close, the divine instrument on her back changed from the reflector to a large royal blue color sword with a ring of holy energy around the hilt, Tsumugari. The holy weapon cut into the strange creature, causing it to scream again and jump up into the trees and fading away. The sun goddess quickly ran to the downed boy with the strange swords. He stood up and was looking around wildly. Issun spoke up at that point. "You okay kid? The thing is gone now," he tried to sooth the boy. However, she could see he was not convinced.

"No it's not. That's the problem with this thing, it turns invisible and attacks when you're not looking," he quickly said before pushing the white wolf out of the way as the Heartless' tongue lashed out again. Thinking quickly, Roxas took Rejection of Fate and stabbed the Stealth Sneak's tongue and the tree, effectively pinning it there. On the other end the Heartless became visible as it tried to retract its tongue and instead pulled itself and slammed into the tree horn first, getting that stuck as well.

Charging Two Become One as much as possible, he unleashed a massive wave of Chaos Blades at the pinned Heartless. As he did, something weird happened. The fire from the sacred phoenix statues on the other side of the bridge flared and jumped across to Roxas' blade just as he slashed. The result was a massive tsunami of Light, Darkness, Nothingness, and fire hitting the Stealth Sneak at point blank range. The thing screamed in pain as it dissolved into Darkness before fading away, the heart it had contained floating upwards into the sky before it too faded.

With the threat gone, he turned to wolf that was now approaching calmly. Once again the small bouncing person spoke up. "That was some attack kid, what's your name?"

Looking down at the bouncing ball with a raised eyebrow he replied evenly, "Roxas. And you are?"

The little man in the beetle hat seemed to swell with pride as he spoke. "I'm Issun, the wandering artist and this here is the great sun goddess Amaterasu," he said as the wolf barked, tail wagging happily.

Roxas raised an eyebrow skeptically. While he had seen his fair share of strange things, a goddess in the form of an animal was a little much. Then again, he wouldn't have believed Daxter was anything more than an annoying rodent before he saw him transform back into his original form by that old Precursor, so who was he to judge? He shook his head before turning to head back towards the coast. "Well nice meeting you, but I need to get to Sei-An city and there's a massive curse zone in my way that I have to get around," he said as he turned to leave.

Issun bounced on top of the wolf's head as she made to follow him. "A curse zone, we can take care of that no problem." He only got a skeptical look from the boy. "Trust me; you'll see some of Ammy's real power then. Besides, we're heading to the city too." Roxas only shrugged, figuring he had nothing to lose.

The strange trio made their way to the coast. As soon as they got there, Issun start to bounce on Ammy's head, shocked at the size of the curse zone he was seeing. "What the hell is going on here? Orochi's stupid cursed zone spread all the way here? This past the check point and besides, we already killed that sneaky serpent!"

Roxas cut in, adding his findings. "I don't think this was created by Orochi. Someone or something else is maintaining this, especially since the curse zone surrounds Sei-A city but doesn't go into it. I think it's the same being that is controlling the Heartless, like that Stealth Sneak we fought earlier."

Ammy turned towards the boy with a questioning look, if a wolf could have such a look. Issun voiced her question. "Stealth Sneak, that's the second time you mentioned that and what is a Heartless?" Roxas then explained again about Heartless, the different kinds, and their normal behavior. "That Stealth Sneak was probably sent to keep the bridge up, cutting off the coast from everywhere else and that's what worries me. Heartless don't use tactics like that, or at all for that matter. They follow their instincts only as far as I know. The only reason they would act like this would mean someone or something is controlling them." A thought then crossed his mind as they made their way down a path that was on the side of the mountain where the shrine was located. "Have either of you encountered Heartless before?" he asked curiously.

Issun shook his head, though it was a little hard to see due to his size. "Nope. We didn't encounter any of them in the eastern part of Nippon and that lizard thing was the first one we've ever met up with."

The greater Nobody nodded. "Then that just supports the idea that someone on the coast is controlling them and probably created this curse zone as well. We'll probably find out more once we reach the city, assuming we can get there," he said a little dejectedly as they came to the end of the trail, a large rock wall with a crack in it. "Well this is as far as we go."

"Not quite," the diminutive artist said with a grin in his voice. "Ammy, you know what to do." The wolf barked in response and right before Roxas' eyes, a circle with a line sticking out through the top appeared in what looked like black ink in mid air for a split second before a large paper covered ball with a burning fuse. He backed up as the Cherry Bomb went off, taking out the stone wall. On the other side they found a small pond as well as a cave stretching up and outward.

"How did you do that?" Roxas asked curiously. While he had seen some strange things, making a bomb appear out of thin air was new to him.

"That was the Celestial Brush," Issun explained. "It's a special technique that allows gods and those trained in it to manipulate the world around them. What you just saw was the Cherry Bomb."

Looking through the cave, Roxas opened Compass and scanned the area. "There's something up there that's trying to hold back the curse zone, but it's weak. I'm gonna go scout it out," he said before jumping up and making his way through the cave before Issun or Ammy could protest.

Roxas exited the cave at a higher elevation, passing by a couple dried up ponds before getting to the top. At the top of the small mountain was another dried up pond with what looked like a withered plant of some kind in the center of it. Looking at Compass, he was surprised to find that the withered plant was what was trying to keep back the curse zone. The greater Nobody approached and kneeled down next to it, examining the thing. "What is this thing? How can a plant hold back Darkness, even diluted Darkness like this?" he wondered out loud to himself. However, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of … rushing water?

Turning quickly he saw the pond around him fill up with water. The source was a … flow of water for lack of a better description. It was coming up from below the plateau and into the pond, as if being pumped through a pipe minus the pipe itself. Standing next to the flow was Amaterasu with her tail wagging as the pond quickly filled with water. Before he could voice his confusion, the plant in front of him reacted. It started to gather energy and began to grow rapidly. Jumping away, Roxas watched in awe as the shriveled plant grew to a good sized tree with a distinct spiral trunk. However, while it did look much healthier than it was a moment ago, it lacked any leaves, fruit, blossoms, or any other vegetation. Checking Compass, he found that the plant's energy had increased, but not enough to push back the curse zone. He turned to the wolf who was now sitting with her tail wagging happily. "Well, that certainly helped, but the curse zone isn't going anywhere," he stated simply.

Issun made himself known again. "Just you wait kid. Okay furball, show him some real brushwork," he cried out. The Nobody turned to see a circle of ink flash around the tree before it became enveloped in pink floral energy. It reminding him of Marluxia's power but this had a strange aura to it. It felt comforting and protective rather than deceptive and poisonous. As the energy wrapped around the tree, it became covered in light pink blossoms, bringing it to full life. It was truly beautiful, but that did not prepare him for what happened next. The newly revived Guardian Sapling started to glow as it gathered energy into itself. Before he could question what was happening, the Sapling released the energy.

A massive wave of power exploded from the tree in all directions, causing flowers to bloom on the land, water to turn from grey to pure, and banishing the curse zone. Trees and animals appeared where there had been none; the entire coast was being transformed. Though he didn't see it, the Chaos Tear reacted, all three gems blazing as the curse zone was dispelled. In seconds the entire area was transformed into a beautiful coastline with pink flower petals drifting in the breeze and the smell of peach blossoms everywhere. Roxas stared in shock at the transformation resulting from the shockwave. The entire area had been transformed. Shaking his head he brought out Compass and scanned the area. The results shocked him even more. The curse zone was completely gone with only a few very small patches here and there along the coast. This was insane! He turned to see Amaterasu sitting with what he guessed was a smug look on her face if a wolf could ever have one. After a moment, Roxas found his voice, "Okay, I'm starting to believe you about the goddess thing."

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Far away from the Nobody, the wolf, and Poncle stood two people watching carefully as the group made their way towards the temple to stay for the night. A man and a woman; both looking normal enough except that their clothes did not match those of the locals at all. Unlike those of Nippon who wore mostly robes, tunics, and such, these two were dressed drastically different. The man was dressed in a fine suit with dark brown pants, a light tan overcoat, a dark tan vest underneath, white collar shirt, and blue tie. The woman was dressed identically with the only real difference was that she had an ankle length dark brown dress. Both the man and woman had red hair and blue eyes as they watched the strange group. "Well sister," the man said calmly, "it looks like he's definately the source of the anomaly."

The woman nodded. "Indeed brother. Who would have thought that boy would cause such a reaction when he created those Chaos Corridors? Still, I don't think he'll make any real difference here," she stated quite calmly.

The man shook his head. "On the contrary, I think he will. He certainly did so in the last two worlds he entered."

"He didn't change the final outcome. Alice still regained her sanity and Jak and that orange rodent still saved their world," she countered.

"Oh but he did. Not completely of course; but enough where he did cause the end result to be different than what would have happened normally. The Red Queen and Damas were not killed, changing the course of things dramatically from then on out. In any case we will just have to see how this story ends," the man said calmly.

A third voice however broke in before the woman could respond. "Still observing I see. Will you be revealing yourselves to him soon?" a calm voice said with a large twisted grin.

The woman sniffed disdainfully at the Cheshire Cat as she answered his question. "No we will not feline. As my brother said we will wait and see how his story goes," she said primly, not liking the demonic cat at all.

Cheshire seemed to give the feline equivalent of a shrug as he turned to fade away into mist. "As you wish. Just remember, you two came in at the middle of his story and have been simply skimming it as it has progressed. Missing the start and skipping many of the details; only concentrating on the major events. I would think as scientists you would know that details are vitally important and you will not detect them by simply observing from a distance, but that is your decision. Just remember that with Chaos involved, a coin has an equal chance to land on its heads, its tails, OR its edge," he said before vanishing completely into dark mist.

The man frowned for a moment before speaking again. "I'm starting to understand why Mr. DeWitt was so upset with us whenever we spoke with him," he said calmly, though a little perturbed by the Cat's exit.

"Indeed," the woman agreed silently, frowning at where demonic feline had once been. In the blink of an eye without light or sound, they too were gone from the area.

**Journal Entry Day 394**

**Appearances:**

This has been a long day. Going from the sand city of Spargus to this country side was quite a change as well as meeting Issun and Amaterasu. I'm currently in a temple where we're staying for the night before heading to Sei-An City. Never thought a wolf would be a goddess. Then again, I never thought a bunch of orange rodents would be gods either.

The Heartless in this world worry me. According to what Vexen told me long ago, Heartless only act on their instinct. For them to be organized means someone or something is controlling them. From what the locals said it's most likely these demons. But I don't know why. How did they gain control? What is the point? What is their goal? I know it has something to do with the city. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

AN: Sorry this took so long, but writing an introductory chapter for a new world is not easy. Also, someone asked me what the Dual Stance move is. If you go to Youtube and look up Roxas Boss fight from KHII Final mix you should see it. It's what happens if you don't do the reaction command in time and instead get hit.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 22: Day 395: Tainted City

Roxas stretched as he, Issun, and Amaterasu walked down the coast towards Sei-An City in the early morning, munching on an apple as he did so. They had gotten up literally at the crack of dawn much to his displeasure and left the Ankoku Temple to head to the city, so he was only half awake. Still, they had a decent walk until they got to the city and it was a nice sunny day.

The greater Nobody looked out at the ocean, marveling at the sight before him. He chuckled to himself as he thought about his last few days in that fake Twilight Town, how he had been so ready to go to the beach. The irony was not lost on him. True Spargus also had a beach, but that had mostly been nothing but a cliff side and while in the wasteland he had had no time to stop and enjoy it like now. He could see a number of small islands off the coast that one could get to via a row boat. There were also a couple of huge stone islands with what looked like a rope lined with sacred wards on them, similar to what he had seen on the Guardian Sapling they had revived yesterday.

There were also three very big and interesting sights as he walked down the coast. One was a nearby island with a large building on it. He could probably glide there with little problem if he wanted. He'd have to keep that in mind for later. Another was what looked like the remains of a ship. It was further out and underwater, but again something interesting. Last was the dock in the distance where the entrance of the city was. There was a huge main pier made of the stone and number of smaller piers jutting from it made of wood. A number of ships were currently docked there; none of them looked ready to set sail which he found odd. 'Huh, you'd think at a port like this they would be ready to go,' he thought to himself. He was broken out of his thoughts by Issun.

"So Roxas I've been meaning to ask, how did you know so much about that lizard thing from yesterday? You called it a Stealth Sneak?" the tiny person asked from on top of the wolf's head.

Roxas swallowed his bite of apple before speaking. "Yeah, a type of Heartless like I said before. Long story short, I used to work for a … group where my job was to track down and eliminate various Heartless. I faced different versions of that same Heartless before and so I knew how to take it down," he answered as he continued to eat his breakfast.

That piqued both Issun's and Ammy's curiosity, more so the sun goddess's due to her being able to sense what Roxas was, or rather what he wasn't. "So what were you doing at the check point then?" the Poncle asked, jumping from the wolf's head to the boy's shoulder.

The Nobody considered flicking him off but thought better of it before answering. "The group, called Organization XIII, and I had a major falling out. They were keeping too many secrets from me and my … sister was killed due both their and their enemy's manipulations. I've been on the run ever since, trying to find a way back to their base to take them down. Problem is, I'm lost like you wouldn't believe," he explained, keeping it as simple as possible. While they seemed friendly, he didn't think they would be able to fully handle what he had been through and he had only known them for a day.

As they walked they saw someone running towards them at a high speed. The guy was dressed in an odd orange tunic and orange boots. The man slowed down and stopped next to Roxas and Amaterasu, though he was still running in place. "Good morning," the man greeting cheerfully. "I'm surprised to see someone out this early. I'm Super-fast Hayate. What brings you out to Ryoshima Coast?"

Issun piped up at that point, always wanting to be heard. "We're heading to Sei-An city. We heard there're some major problems there," the Poncle explained.

The running man nodded. "Indeed. With the mist blanketing the city and the water dragon attacks, the head priestess from Ankoku Temple is constantly busy trying to set things right," he said casually.

That caused Roxas to raise an eyebrow before asking. "What water dragon? We had heard about the mist, but what's this about attacks?" he said calmly.

Hayate was surprised. "You haven't heard? The water dragon used to be the god of the sea, keeping peace in the oceans but has recently gone mad, attacking everything out at sea." He then turned and pointed to the ruined ship Roxas had noticed earlier. "That ship had been so close to port but was sunk by the water dragon. Shame too as I've heard there was an invaluable treasure on the ship."

"Treasure, what treasure?" Issun asked excitedly.

The man chuckled at the Poncle's interest. "From what I've heard, there's some weird mallet that can make you as small as a bug, allowing you to go through gaps as small as a needle. Not sure what good that is though," he muttered more to himself.

"You'd be surprised," Roxas commented, earning odd looks from the man, the wolf, and the tiny bouncing artist. Memories of his time in both Light Wonderland, what he'd subconsciously started calling the Wonderland he and Luxord had traveled to, and more recently Dark Wonderland came to his mind. In both cases a tool like this mallet the guy was talking about would've come in handy. If nothing else it would've been better then drinking that nasty tasting potion or eating a toadstool. He shook his head before turning back to the delivery man. "So what can you tell us about the city?" he asked curiously.

The runner sighed. "Things are getting worse despite the priestess's efforts. The poison mist still hangs over the city. I was lucky enough to crawl out to do my deliveries. Most people in the city can barely move and the appearance of those dark purple and black balls across the city doesn't seem to be helping things either."

Roxas immediately looked concerned at that last statement. "Dark purple and black balls? What dark purple and black balls?"

They all noted the concern in his voice as Hayate explained. "Just yesterday when the cursed zone lifted, theses strange black spheres appeared all over the city. Most of them are imbedded in houses, walls, and various places. No one knows what they are or why they appeared. The priestess and the local guards have tried to dispel them, but with everyone barely able to move they haven't been successful."

The greater Nobody frowned, remembering his past missions from the Organization. "This is not good. Those sound like shadow globs. Spheres of pure Darkness that while on their own are harmless; they attract Heartless like flies to honey. It sounds like when the curse zone was dispelled the extra Darkness had to go somewhere, so it went to the largest concentration of hearts in the area."

Issun bounced on Amaterasu's head excitedly. "Well what are we waiting for then, we need to get to the city as fast as possible!" Roxas nodded and the trio dashed off down the beach, heading to the port and eventually the city.

Hayate yelled after them, "Good luck my friends!"

As the trio ran faster and faster Roxas noticed something odd. Ammy was leaving a trail of plants behind her. They started out as a few grasses, then upgraded to flowers when she picked up speed, and finally to much larger grasses and flowers when she was running full sprint. While he wasn't sure if he fully believed her about the sun goddess thing, he did believe that she was no ordinary wolf. He shook his head, concentrating on running to get to the city as fast as possible. However, as they ran past the harbor and were just at the gate to the city, the Chaos Tear flared up again.

Feeling its power Roxas took it out to see what it was detecting. The image it showed was strange though. At first it showed the image of a woman before twisting into a bird like form. What did that mean? He got his answer when a small group of strange creatures appeared in front of them. At first glance they looked like geisha women in large pink kimonos with large fans on their backs, holding an umbrella with conical hats concealing their faces from view. However upon closer inspection showed they were not human. Their bodies were shaped like swans that had been forced to become human but didn't go all the way. Their kimonos had a number of cuts and bloodstains, reeking of death and decay even from a distance. "What are these things?" the greater Nobody asked as he summoned his Keyblades.

"They're Ubume, a type of demon that's created from the resentment of women killed by a samurai's blade. As a result, they tend to attack swordsmen of any kind," Issun quickly explained from his perch on Ammy's head.

"Well that's just great," he muttered as he could feel the demons' cold hateful glares on him as he held his swords at the ready. Not wanting to wait to see what they would do, Roxas dashed forward to attack first. The Ubume quickly pulled out its parasol, opening it up and positioning it like a shield. To Roxas' shock, Two Become One was stopped cold, as if he were striking a heavy metal wall, even with his Keyblade's Twilight Edge ability. "What the hell?" he exclaimed before he was thrown back hard. "What are those umbrellas made of!?" he cried out as he dodged a swipe from said umbrella.

Amaterasu was having similar luck as her Divine Instruments just bounced off the demon's parasols, not doing any damage. She growled as she backed off, taking a moment to regroup and figure out how to get past the demon's defenses. Who knew that umbrellas would be such a good defense? Issun cried out from on top of her head, "Ammy, frontal attacks won't work! We need to get rid of the those umbrellas! Blow them away!" Growling in agreement, she raised her head and focused, calling on the Galestorm brush technique. Immediately, a powerful wind swept through the area, catching the umbrellas and the demons too stubborn to let them go.

Roxas, seeing his chance, dashed forward again. He raised Two Become One to strike only to be blocked again. Backing away from the recoil, he looked to see a familiar glow around the four demons blocking their way into the city. "Oh you've got to be kidding!" he muttered as he quickly looked around for the source of the field. The greater Nobody knew of only one being that could create a shield like that. Looking up in the trees near the gate he finally found it, a small humanoid, heartless holding a large book; a barrier master Heartless. "Got you!" he grinned as he switched out both his Keyblades for Eco Surge in Blaster mode. Taking aim he shot at the annoying little bugger. Nailing it in the head, it fell out of the tree and dropped its oversized book, causing the barrier on the demons to fade away. Turning quickly he yelled at the red and crimson wolf. "Now Ammy, while the barrier is down!"

The sun goddess nodded in thanks and cast Galestorm again, causing the demons to be whipped about by their umbrellas. Snarling, she lashed out with her Divine Instrument Infinity Judge, the holy weapon ripping apart the twisted bird creature. As she was attacking, another of the Ubume came up from behind, determined to end the white wolf. It never got the chance as it was hit by an explosion. Turning quickly, Amaterasu saw Roxas holding a strange weapon, it looked like several metal tubes in a bundle connected to a box and handle of some kind with the tubes themselves glowing red. She barked her thanks and continued her attack, making a mental note to find out more about Roxas' weapons.

Turning away from the demons, seeing that his companion could handle herself, he looked to see the barrier master making his way back to his book. "Oh no you don't you little bastard," he snarled as he shot another grenade with Eco Surge in Plasmite RPG mode. The Heartless was blown back away from its book and into a nearby rock wall. Not taking any chances, he fired off several shots at the barrier master, dispersing it into Darkness and releasing the trapped heart before turning back to the bird demons harassing his companion.

Seeing Roxas take aim with the strange weapon, Amaterasu jumped to the side as he cut loose, launching small metal orbs that bounced before exploding, heavily damaging the demons. In short order the Ubume were wiped out, leaving only their charred carcasses and bits of blood stained kimonos. The Nobody held his Key gun ready as he inspected the remains. Seeing that they were firmly put down he began to think about what had just happened. 'A barrier master? Those type of Heartless are only ever paired with more powerful Heartless like a Large Body. Then there was the demons themselves …' he thought with a frown.

Issun decided to interrupt his thoughts at that moment. "Hey kid nice job there with that Heartless. What are you thinking so hard about?"

The blonde turned to the wolf and Poncle. "That Heartless, it was a barrier master. By themselves they're harmless, but when paired with other Heartless they're a pain. What they do is they use their magic books to create an invincible barrier around other Heartless or in this case demons. What worries me is that it was even with those demons in the first place. I don't think this group was here as an ambush."

That surprised both the Poncle and the sun goddess. "What are you talking about? They were right here waiting for us. We would've been in a real bind if you hadn't taken out that barrier master."

Roxas shook his head. "That's just it, why just one barrier master and four lower class demons? You've taken out demons much more powerful than this group and they would've known that. Plus this group was focused heavily on defense. You saw what their umbrellas did, that plus the barrier master? I think this group was put here to keep people in and out of the city. That guy we met earlier probably escaped just before this group was put here." They all looked at the remains of the deformed bird women, not liking what this could mean. "This is bad. It means someone or something is controlling both the Heartless and the demons and knows what they can do. Let's go," he said as they entered the city.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The kitsune, also known as a tube fox or hankou to the locals, ran through the city silently, making its way to inform its lord of this new development. It had watched the battle between the sun goddess and the demons and Dark One acting as gatekeepers to the city. The wolf goddess would've never gotten past the Ubume if it hadn't been for that boy. He had known exactly what to look for as soon as he saw the barrier around the demons and had taken out the barrier master first before taking out the demons with his strange weapon. There was also the fact he was not normal, the demon fox could sense it.

Making its way into the musty room where its master currently resided, the kitsune stood at attention. The hidden demon lord turned towards it servant. "What do you have to report?" it asked quietly. The tube fox relayed what it had seen in the fight between the Ubume and the sun goddess. The lord frowned as the tale turned to the strange boy dressed in a black coat with even stranger weapons. The Lord frowned at the news. When the cursed zone had been dispelled, those demons and Dark One had been placed their almost immediately to act as gatekeepers. Unfortunately a few commoners escaped, but they were of no consequence. No, the real issue now was that sun goddess and that unknown … boy. He may have seemed human but the Demon Lord's servant had reported that he wasn't, that he both was and wasn't there. It was like a cutout in a picture, you knew it was there and what the outline was for, but there were no details or anything filling it to identify what it truly was. Even more disturbing was how the boy knew about the Dark Ones, what he had called Heartless. The Demon Lord turned to its servant. "Tell the others to continue to watch them, the boy especially. He knew about the Dark One, it may become necessary to eliminate him." The tube fox nodded and disappeared, leaving the Dark Lord to its thoughts.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

As soon as they entered the city, Roxas nearly doubled over in physical shock from exposure to the corrupted air. The entire area was covered in a thick, pale green fog that was so dense it seemed to partially block out the sun, making it seem like dusk rather than almost noon. All around them were various one and two story buildings with what should have been sacred sakura trees scattered throughout. The trees themselves were all bare, no leaves, blossoms, or anything, looking almost dead. There were also large stone channels carved into the ground with bridges going over them, also bare and devoid of any type of life. However the trees and channels were nothing compared to the people.

All around were various common people on the ground coughing hard, their skin pale as it seemed their bodies were giving out on them. Many of them seemed to be in terrible pain, moaning and coughing up blood as they tried to move, most it seemed were trying to get to the city gate to escape from the cursed mist, not that the Nobody could blame them. Not only were they physically affected, but it seemed many were depressed, not wanting to even try and were waiting to die. Roxas himself was doing only marginally better. Even with his apparent immunity to the cursed zone, this mist was something else entirely. This pale green fog, whatever it was, seemed almost alive somehow with how it was affecting the people of the city.

Issun expressed spoke surprised at the sight before them. "Looks like that guy was right. Everyone is out of commission because of this funky mist. It's definitely hazardous to your health. Come on you two, let's talk to some of the people and see what we can find," he said before turning to Roxas who was now hunched over with a hand over his mouth, trying to filter out the mist. "You going to be okay kid?" the Poncle asked worriedly.

Roxas coughed a little as he cast a Cura spell on himself. It would heal him over time and negate some of the effects of the mist, but it wouldn't last forever. "I'll be fine, we need to keep moving if we're going to get to the bottom of all this," he said as he took a better look around the city before he noticed something that made his eyes widen in shock.

Shadow globs. Like the runner said, there were balls of black and purple energy lining many of the walls and buildings in the area. But that wasn't what shocked and worried him. No, what worried him was the fact that the shadow globs were arranged in patterns. Along any wall visible they were placed and spaced out from each other approximately 20 feet give or take. They were placed in a crisscross pattern across any and all walls. Surfaces that weren't large enough to have the pattern had them in straight lines. Immediately Roxas knew this was wrong. Shadow globs didn't appear in patterns, they appeared at random all over the place, gathering Darkness to attract Heartless. These shadow globs on the other hand were arranged perfectly … but why? Obviously they were placed here shortly after the cursed zone vanished, but for what purpose? Roxas turned to his two companions. "You two scout ahead, I need to check a few things," he said calmly, eyes narrowing at the shadow globs.

Amaterasu tilted her head in confusion while Issun voice his. "You sure kid? You gonna be okay?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just find a way to the queen so that we can get to the bottom of this mist." The sun goddess nodded and ran off, leaving the Nobody to his thoughts. He looked carefully at the shadow globs. 'They were placed here for a reason … but why? What would someone need them here for?' he thought as he looked carefully at the wall and the where the mist ended. 'Wait … why isn't the mist leaving the city?' He then approached them closer and was able to confirm his suspicions. The shadow globs were generating some sort of field to keep the mist in the city and not let it dissipate into open air. 'Somebody went to a lot of trouble to set all this up. This isn't just some random take over; somebody has been planning this and had made back up plans.' He then got a smirk on his face as he summoned Eco Surge again in Vulcan Fury mode. "Time to air out this place," he said as he let lose a volley of shots at the shadow globs.

The sound startled many of the people nearby, causing them to turn their heads to see what it was. They were shocked to see the black-coated boy using a strange weapon to destroy the dark energy orbs lining their city. With each sphere he destroyed, a larger and larger hole opened in the unseen field surrounding the city, allowing the mist to exit and fresh air to enter. He had already destroyed several and was going down the line when something unforeseen happened. The spots that he had cleared away suddenly formed new shadow globs, restoring the field and closing the gap. Roxas sneered at the sight. "Son of a … okay, lets kick it up a notch," he muttered as he shifted his weapon into Arc Wielder mode. People watching nearby gasped in surprise as the strange boy let lose a blast of blue lightning on the orbs, obliterating them rapidly in succession, though scorching the walls as he did so. Again a hole opened in the unseen field allowing the mist to dissipate and fresh air to come in, much larger this time than before. However, just as before the shadow globs appeared again and the field closed.

"Damn it," Roxas cursed as he dismissed Eco Surge. He turned and started walking to the center square of the commoner's quarter and stopping at would have been a small pond next to a tree had the water been flowing. "This doesn't make sense. What is the point of trapping this mist here? If someone wanted to take over the city or destroy it, there are plenty of other ways," he said quietly to himself.

"Perhaps, but not nearly as satisfying," a smooth voice interrupted his thoughts. Roxas turned to see Cheshire appear on the pond edge, his grin obvious even in the thick mist.

The Nobody turned towards the demonic cat, used to his appearances by now. "So this is more than a hostile takeover," he stated with a raised eyebrow.

His tail swished as his grin flashed in the shaded area. "Indeed, there is more going on in this city than a mere plague. As you've seen, someone has worked hard to infect this city and its people. Why do you think they would do this?" the feline asked rhetorically.

"If I were to guess, I'd say its revenge. If whoever did this wanted to take over the city they could've done so easily with the combined power of demons and Heartless. No, they wanted the people here to suffer," he said as he looked around at the few people remaining in the streets. "Judging from what's happening, I'd say they're succeeding."

The cat's grin widened a little more. "So the question becomes who would have a grudge against this city's people great enough to warrant this endeavor?" the cat asked curiously. "Regardless, you must be alert. There is more going on here than apparent. These demons may work with the Heartless but do not have any idea of what they are dealing with. Anyone desperate enough to employ them while still having a heart is even madder than me, and that's saying something," the cat said before fading away again.

Before Roxas could think further on this, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a massive crash of water. Quickly running towards the sound, he saw the stone channels quickly fill up with water. "Well that's a surprise," he commented to himself before hearing a bark. Turning he saw Amaterasu running towards him with Issun bouncing on her head. "I suppose you had something to do with this?" he asked with the grin. He got another bark and a tail wag from the sun goddess, causing him to chuckle.

Issun spoke up, "We got the water running again, should help the people here. Now we can go see Queen Himiko and get to the bottom of all this."

Roxas nodded and the group made their way his thoughts turning to his conversation with Cheshire. 'Now maybe we can get some answers on whom or what is doing this,' he thought as they made their way to bridge connecting the commoner's quarter to aristocratic quarter.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Once again the kitsune made a report to its Lord on what it had seen of the strange boy now in the city. The Demon Lord raised an eyebrow in interest at the tale. "Once again it seems this boy's knowledge of the Dark Ones is extensive, knowing about the dark spheres and guessing their purpose. While his attempt to destroy them failed, he now knows this isn't just a simple invasion. Even more interesting is that he has a demon companion, though I have never heard of one like what you described," the Lord muttered the last part as it thought about what it had heard. A demon cat that faded in and out like mist with glowing eyes and a grin in the shape of a crescent moon? The Demon Lord had never heard of such a creature which made it worry. Demon cats were one of the few types of demons that could match kitsune in terms of stealth, trickery, and deviousness. For this strange young warrior to be allied with one was both interesting and worrying. Who was this boy and what was his stake in all of this? Was he truly on the Amaterasu's side or was he in this for some other reason? The Demon Lord turned to its servant. "Tell the others to continue watching him. Try to discern his true motives but do not confront him just yet. Until we know what he is fully capable of we will watch and wait. He might be of some use later," the Demon Lord commanded. The demon fox nodded and scurried away, eager to pass on the orders of its Lord.

**Journal Entry Day 395**

**Demons**

While I've dealt with Heartless before, these demons are something else. From what I've heard and seen so far, most demons are greedy creatures driven by negative emotions, but I don't completely believe it. A number of the demons I've heard about from Issun were created from humans who experienced something traumatic such as the Ubume who were women killed by a samurai. That tells me that what they had been doing was out of a type of revenge, which is probably the same reason for the invasion of Sei-An City. The question remains though, who is doing this and why?


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 23: Day 395: The Search Begins

Roxas ran with the wolf sun goddess Amaterasu and the Poncle Issun towards the Gojo Bridge that connected the commoner's quarter and the aristocratic quarter. However, when they got there the Nobody was surprised. There were a number of people at the end of the bridge, obviously wanting to cross but were unable to. While the lake dividing the two quarters was filled with fresh water, the bridge itself was in two pieces. The piece they were on angled downward towards the center from a certain point while the piece connecting the other side angled upwards, making it so no one could cross. The Nobody turned to one of the people standing at the end of the parted bridge. "What's going on here? Why is the bridge in two?"

A middle aged man turned and answered him with a frown. "It's that idiot monk. He refuses to reform the bridge until he obtains some blasted living sword from the lake. Madness I tell you!" the man snarled, not at Roxas but at said monk who was standing to the side of lower part of the bridge with a white fishing rod. The monk himself was short, but wide with a number of swords strapped to his back.

Issun piped up, saying what they were all thinking. "People are dying from this mist and need to see the priestess and queen and this guy won't let them all because of a sword in a lake? What is wrong with this guy?"

Roxas silently agreed, trying to think of a way to get the monk out of the way. He then got an idea. If this guy wanted a sword, he would give him a sword. Walking in front of the group of people, he approached the monk who was now sitting with a magnificent white fishing pole, apparently looking to catch the so called living sword. Roxas spoke up as he approached the white hooded monk. "Hey what's the hold up? Why aren't you letting people cross?" he asked.

The Wandering Warrior Monk Benkei turned to the boy in the strange black cloak that approached him. "I am Benkei and I have traveled far and wide challenging master swordsmen and 999 swords have I claimed by my own hand. But now that I had defeated all who would dare challenge me, that last sword has eluded me. I need but one more to make 1,000! I wandered until a legend of a living sword called me here to Sei-An City. It is said that it lies in the depths of Lake Beewa." He then turned and motioned to the separate pieces of the bridge. "This bridge is a very special contraption. With a single command I can made it passable or impassable. As it is, it makes a perfect place to fish for the living sword. I have been holding my rod over this water for some time now, but the living sword has not come to bite. You know what they say thought, patience is a virtue. I shall sit here as long as it takes."

The greater Nobody just stared at the monk in disbelief. This guy was being a jerk denying people from seeing the priestess or anyone official that could help them all over some living sword in a lake? Well he would take care of that right now. "Listen, people need to cross this bridge. Now I understand you want your 1,000 sword, but I'll make you a deal. You make this bridge passable and I'll give you a sword like you've never seen."

The monk turned to him, interested. "What sword would this be? What sword could a boy like you have, that would compare to a living sword?" he asked curiously. Roxas just smirked as he reached behind himself, materializing Two Becomes One without the monk seeing and then brought it forward. Benkei scoffed at the blade. While it was certainly unique looking, there didn't seem to be anything special about it. Seeing his disbelief he turned to the side, flaring up the Aura Blade he whipped the energy rope over their heads, much to Benkei's and the onlooker's surprise.

Canceling the ability, he turned to the now stunned monk. "So, do we have a deal?" he said while grinning like Cheshire on the inside. The monk nodded and immediately went over and stomped on a series of boards in a certain order. At once the portion of the bridge they were on lifted up as the opposite portion went down, connecting the two halves into a whole. The people watching held their breath as the monk turned to take the sword they had seen the boy materialize behind his back. "You want it?" he asked now grinning openly now. He turned and brought his arm back, as if holding a javelin. Benkei's eyes widened as he realized what the boy was about to do. Before he could stop him however, the boy launched the sword into the lake much to his and everyone's shock. "Go get it!" he yelled out.

The warrior monk ran to the side of the bridge leaning over the railing as much as possible to see where it had landed, shocked that the boy would just throw away such a blade. He did not notice as Roxas maneuvered himself behind Benkei. Before anyone realized what he was planning, Roxas ran up and delivered a Chaos powered kick to the monk's rear end, sending him flying off the bridge and into Lake Beewa. There was a moment of silence before people started to cheer and started to cross the bridge to the aristocratic quarter to get help from the government.

Amaterasu bounded up to him with Issun on her head. Her tail was wagging like crazy, indicating that she liked the prank he just pulled. "Nice one kid. That'll teach that sword-obsessed nut. Now come on, we need to see the priestess about this mist and the water dragon," the Poncle said as they made their way to the government buildings.

However as they crossed Roxas saw something in the distance. It looked like a geyser almost from this distance, a geyser of green mist. The source of this poison mist was inside the city, inside the aristocratic quarter? Well that explained the containment field, but the question now was what was creating this mist in the first place? He shook it off and followed his lupine companion and tiny artist only to find them stopped by a very strange man.

The man had a pink long-sleeved shirt with red trimming and two red puff balls on the front and a pair of baggy purple pants. He walked on a pair of strange stilt-like sandals and carrier a flute with a sword strapped to his waist. On his head was some type of helmet in the image of a bird with a long white, feathery cape that ran to his waist with red highlights on the edges. All and all he looked like a refugee from Light Wonderland in Roxas' opinion, likely the Mad Hatter's house. Absently he felt the Tear of Chaos react. Looking at it he saw that the Light and Nothingness gems were flaring with the Darkness gem flickering and the center gem showing an image of the crescent moon. Weird, but he would keep it in mind for later. The man spoke with a strange accent that reminded Roxas of the walking candelabra in Beast's Castle. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in. What took you so long, ma cherie?"

Issun spoke up, annoyed and distressed at seeing the colorful man on little stilts. "Ack! Not you again!"

Roxas turned to his companions. While Amaterasu seemed unconcerned, the Poncle on the other hand seemed ticked at seeing the colorful man. "You know this guy?" he asked jerking his thumb at the guy.

"Yeah, he's a half-baked prophet that follows us around. He's nothing more than a nuisance. Wouldn't surprise me if he was behind this mist," the small artist said hotly.

The man sniffed disdainfully at the comment. "Excuse moi, but I have no time to follow you around. You see, I'm busy looking for something."

Issun scoffed at the would-be prophet. "Bah, some prophet you are. Shouldn't you already know where to look?"

"Well "look" isn't the right word. I know where it is, but getting there is proving to be a bit of a problem. Suffice it to say, I want it quick and easy," the man coolly replied.

The greater Nobody shook his head. "Can we ignore the clown and keep moving? We have more important things to worry about," he said as he thought about the mist, the water dragon, and the Heartless.

Finally seeming to notice the black coated boy, the man's eyes narrowed at him, sensing what he was … or rather what he wasn't. "Pardon, but I don't think we've been introduced," he said as he struck a pose, the white cape flaring out as he did. "I am Waka, god's gift to mankind," he said regally.

Roxas just snorted at the declaration. "Someone thinks highly of themselves. I'm Roxas and as I said, you're just a lazy clown wasting our time. Come on Ammy, let's keep going," he said moving to walk past the pink swordsman who was now frowning at him, having never been dismissed like that before.

Amaterasu shook with what looked like barely contained laughter at the look on his face while Issun wasn't even trying to hold it in and was laughing from his perch on her head much to Waka's annoyance. "Aren't you interested in what I am seeking little boy?" he spoke in a superior tone.

Roxas bristled at that comment but shook it off. "If you're looking for the bathrooms I think they're that way though you'll have to wait in line," he said pointing in a random direction, causing Issun and Ammy to laugh even harder. "Can we keep moving now?"

Waka growled a little at being made fun of. Normally he was one who taunted and enraged others with his attitude, not the other way around. "What I seek is a way into the other world, a path to heavens. It is a path that also concerns you ma cherie," he said while turning to address Amaterasu.

The Poncle spoke up again, "Roxas has got the right idea, ignore him Ammy, we've got more important things to worry about." With that the trio left the strange man, who was now scowling at their backs, particularly the boy in the black coat as he had been unable to give his next prophecy/words of advice because of him. He would be watching the wolf goddess and her companions more closely now.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

They entered the area leading to the aristocratic quarter where most of the government buildings were located. Around them many people were in lines and talking to various officials. One of the lines was for seeing the priestess. Following Amaterasu, Roxas walked up to the doorway. The people let him pass mostly because he had gotten rid of that stupid monk hoarding the bridge and because they had seen him materialize a powerful magic weapon out of thin air. Needless to say, while grateful they were also cautious. The guards also recognized the boy and wolf. "Ah, you're the one who got the bridge back together again. Good show my friend. Tell me, what business do three you have with the priestess?" the guard asked calmly.

"We need to talk to her about this mist, the water dragon, and about the strange black-skinned creatures that have been showing up," Roxas replied.

The guard nodded and was silent for a moment in thought. "Normally I'd have to tell you to leave as the priestess is much too busy, but given what you did with the bridge and your reasons, I'll let you pass." Roxas gave his thanks and the small group entered the building.

Inside were wall to wall scrolls, mystic talismans, and sacred images. However the place looked like a mess. Papers were laying all about, scrolls unrolled on the floor, in short it was organized chaos, as if someone were researching or looking for something. In the center of the room was a desk and table with a hooded woman working on a scroll.

She looked up surprised to see the boy in the strange black coat and a white wolf with red markings. "Well, now this is a surprise. Have you come to listen to one of my sermons? Then allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rao. I'm the regent of Sei-An City. Appointed by Queen Himiko herself," the woman said kindly as she came from being the desk. The woman was dressed in a purple kimono with white trimmings and an orange sash tied around her waist. She had a white vestment covering her head with a string of red beads around her neck. Appearance wise she was gorgeous with a figure most women would die for along with a chest that few other women anywhere could compete with. She had flawless pale skin and black hair that was styled to cover part of the right side of her face though what was visible was beautiful by anyone's standards. In short, she would be what Daxter would've called a knock-out.

Roxas shook his head after staring for a moment, regaining his senses. While he had an appreciation for the fairer sex, one thing he learned from working with Larxene, Alice, and Ashelin was that if you don't respect powerful women they tend to kick your ass in return. He had seen Daxter learn that lesson the hard way more than once so the Nobody knew to use a bit of discretion here.

Unfortunately it seemed to be a lesson that Issun never learned as he blurted out the first thing that came to his tiny mind. "Holy cow! This sister is stacked!" he said out loud, causing Amaterasu to shake her head in embarrassment and Roxas to face palm.

The Priestess Rao was startled by the statement. "Excuse me!?" She then noticed the small bouncing figure on the wolf's head. "Oh you've got a cute little fairy with you," she said in surprise as she leaned in closer to look at the Poncle. Roxas snorted, knowing Issun was far from a fairy.

The Poncle replied in a proud voice. "The name's Issun. And by the way it only looks like I'm staring at your melons," causing Roxas to reach over and swat the bug sized artist, much to his surprise.

The Nobody cleared his throat and spoke respectively to the priestess like he would to Ashelin back in Haven City. "Please ignore the tiny artist, his mouth seems to move faster than his brain. In any case, my name is Roxas and this is the sun goddess Amaterasu," he said motioning to the wolf who barked in response, tail wagging as she did. "We're here to find out about the mist covering the city as well as the water dragon and the appearance of the black skinned, yellowed eyed creatures in the area," he explained.

Issun, shaking himself off from Roxas' swat, added his two cents as well. "Yeah, and what's with Queen Himiko holing herself up in the palace? People are dropping like flies out there!" he exclaimed.

The priestess sighed, looking tired. "So you've sensed the evil that has befallen Ryoshima coast as well? I had heard the evil Orochi was resurrected in Shinshu Field but was later slain by a brave swordsman. Those events have cause waves of chaos to reach here in Ryoshima. The Water Dragon terrorize the sea and this poison mist covers Sei-An with those dark spheres keeping it contained here. The appearance of the Dark Ones has also become a problem as normal prayers and wards don't seem to work on them."

Roxas sighed before he began to explain. "They're called Heartless and they're a bigger threat than you realize."

Rao tilted her head to the side in curiosity. "Heartless? You know these creatures?"

The Nobody sighed before he began to explain again. "They're creatures of pure Darkness. Pureblood Heartless are formed from Darkness itself while Emblem Heartless are formed from people and beings whose hearts are taken by Darkness. They're not evil so much as feral, following only their instincts to collect more hearts. Right now from what I've seen, I'd say there are demons controlling them, but that is not gonna last," he said seriously.

Now Ammy and Issun were curious too. "What do mean kid?" the Poncle asked.

He sighed again before continuing. "Heartless tend to follow the most powerful being but it never lasts. The Heartless eventually gain too much power from the Darkness in the person and rebel, taking their heart and turning them into a Heartless as well. The only way to truly control the Heartless is if you are a Heartless yourself or if you truly have no heart to take and unfortunately even demons have hearts. Dark ones sure, but they do. We need to find who's controlling them quickly and take them out. They may have control now, but sooner or later that control will fail and the Heartless will run wild."

Rao nodded in understanding. "Given your experience with these … Heartless, perhaps you and your friends could help me with my quest. Though it may be hopeless anyway without my prayer slips," she said quietly.

"Prayer slips?" Roxas asked confused.

The priestess nodded. "Yes, they're indispensable in my fight against evil beings. However they were lost somewhere in the city and I haven't the means nor the time to find them."

The Nobody nodded before turning to his canine companion. "Hey Ammy, do you think you could sniff out these prayer slips?" The white wolf barked, tail wagging as she did. "I'll take that as a yes. Could you sniff them out while I talk to Rao here, I've got a couple of questions I want to ask." The wolf barked again in agreement before taking a sniff of Rao then heading out a back door towards the rest of the aristocratic quarter.

Once the wolf left the priestess turned to the strange boy. "So what do you want to ask me?"

"It's about the history of the city," Roxas stated uncertainly. The black-haired woman tilted her head in confusion, waiting for him to continue. "This mist, the water dragon, the Heartless, all of this is way too coordinated for a simple take over. Do you know of any person or demon that has a major grudge against this city?" he asked.

Rao tilted her head in thought for a moment before responding. "According to old history texts, before the city was founded there was a massive group of demons that inhabited this area that were cleared out. Unfortunately the texts don't have many details so it is difficult to say plus it was hundreds of years ago. Other than that I can't really say. Many demons have tried and failed to take Sei-An city, so any number of them could be behind this," she explained sadly. Roxas frowned in thought, wondering what could be done.

Before they could discuss this further, Amaterasu returned with a stack of slips in her mouth. The slips were covered in strange characters that seemed to emit some type of power that Roxas could feel, though it was only slight at the moment. Recognizing them immediately, Rao snatched them up and was just giddy at having them again. "You found my prayer slips! To do so in this big city is truly a marvel!"

Issun interrupted her praise. "Glad to be of service. Now maybe you can tell us why Queen Himiko is holing herself in her palace while her people are dying," he said in an accusing tone.

The priestess shook her head in denial. "No, you don't understand. Queen Himiko cares deeply for her people. She is praying for our protection. However, her powers are not enough to exorcise the city, at least not on their own," she said causing Roxas to raise an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. "Did you see that sunken ship just outside the harbor?" Roxas and Amaterasu nodded. "Well, it was carrying a divine treasure called the Fox Rods, ordered by the Queen herself. With that weapon she would be able to easily exorcise the city. However, it was attacked by the Water Dragon just outside of port and is now most likely filled with monsters and Heartless. I am asking for your help in retrieving the treasure for Queen Himiko."

The Poncle bounced on Ammy's head as he spoke. "So to sum it up, you want us to help you look through a sunken ship full of monsters to find some sunken treasure. Well, you know I'd always help a damsel in distress, especially if treasure is involved. However if the boss here doesn't agree then there's nothing I can do," he said while patting the white wolf on the head. Ammy almost seemed to grin as she barked in agreement, tail wagging as she did. "Well bummer, but I have too … wait what did you say Ammy?" Issun said in surprise.

Roxas chuckled at the tiny artist's surprise. "Yeah we'll help. If those Fox Rods are as powerful as you say, then we need to get them before someone else does. Just one question, how do we raid a ship that is mostly underwater?"

Rao smiled brilliantly when they said they would help her. "Thank you, both of you. To answer your question, the cove the ship is in has the tide go out every night around the New Moon. It will recede tonight and we can look for the treasure then," she explained. They nodded, understanding the logic. "I will meet you at the lunar observational platform tonight. I still have much research and work to do before then."

Roxas nodded as the group turned to leave. Something nagging at the back of his mind as they did. The runner guy on the beach had said the treasure on that ship had been some kind of mallet. So why did Rao say it was these Fox Rods? He shook it off, 'The queen probably had them hidden. If they're as powerful as the priestess says, she'd want to keep them secret from demons,' he thought to himself as they left for the beach. Still, something here seemed … off.

Bestiary Scroll

An account written by a Traveling Artist.

Roxas

A strange boy with even stranger powers, No one knows his true origin though most consider him a traveler from a far away land. Depicted normally in an unusual black coat, sometimes with a hood and sometimes not. Most often he is drawn holding two unique weapons called Keyblades though the styles of these vary wildly from image to image. Most consider Issun's depiction the most accurate. His powers over Light and Darkness and a third unknown power make many wonder if he is a demon or some sort of celestial being.

AN: Kind of a wordy chapter and not much happening, but it is necessary to set up what is to come.


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 24: Day 395: The Old Man and the Cursed Ship

The odd group walked down the beach back towards the shrine. After speaking with the priestess and agreeing to meet her at the lunar observational platform they decided to head back to the temple as the city itself was still contaminated by the mist. A number of people had evacuated the city and were now camping at the port and just outside the city gates. Unfortunately there were a much greater number that couldn't leave the city due to having no place to go, were afraid of demons, or could barely move at this point due to the mist.

As they walked, Roxas noticed some he hadn't before due to them being in such hurry to get to the city. There was a small island just off the coast with a building on it. Turning to his wolf companion and her tiny rider, he pointed it out to them. "Say, do either of you know what that is?" he said indicating the small island.

"No idea," Issun replied. "Want to check it out since we have time? It'll be hours until sunset." Roxas nodded and the three made their way to it. At first Roxas wasn't sure if he would have to glide over there carrying Ammy but was surprised when he saw her create … lily pads? Shaking off his surprise, he followed his lupine companion, using the lily pads as stepping stones to get to the nearby island.

Once they got there and entered the building, they found it to be a large dojo of some kind with a hunched over old man with a long white mustache and a large chin using a bokken as a walking cane. Issun spoke up, seemingly surprised at seeing the old man. "Hey gramps what are you doing here? I thought you were back in Shinshu Field?" the Poncle said confused.

The old man just chuckled good-naturedly. "Ah, my lupine friend and her tiny companion, it is good to see you again. I'm as elusive as my fighting skills my friend. Be it a lone isle among the waves or the most frigid mountain peak, I forge a warrior's path throughout the land. I see you have brought a new friend with you. Welcome young man to my dojo, I am Onigiri Sensei," he said addressing Roxas.

Roxas bowed in greeting, "It's nice to meet you sir. My name is Roxas. So you're a fighting teacher?" he asked curious. While he was no stranger to combat and had his fair share of experience and natural ability, he had never been formerly trained in combat. Those times at the Olympic Coliseum didn't really count as Phil had only had him do exercises and hadn't really shown him any fighting moves or techniques. From what few memories he had experienced from Sora, both he and Riku also hadn't had any formal training. This might be his chance to get an edge on them in the future.

"Indeed I am my boy. I'll train whoever is willing to learn provided they are able to pay for lessons," the old man explained. Roxas nodded, understanding that everyone had to make a living. Unfortunately he had little in the way of this world's currency. He had a good amount of munny from his time in the fake Twilight Town as well as a quite a few Precursor Orbs from Haven City. He had collected them during missions and as payment from Ashelin for helping fight metalheads. He hadn't spent them much due to most places being closed in Haven and food and lodging had been provided for the war effort.

Pulling out one he showed the old man the odd egg-shaped artifact. Amaterasu, Issun, and Onigiri looked in wonder. The item was about the size of a normal chicken egg but was made of a strange orange colored metal, not bronze or copper, something much stronger and was lined with strange runes that none of them had ever seen before. "Look, I don't have any of the local currency, but I do have plenty of these. I … travel quite a bit and picked these up during those travels. They're called Precursor Orbs, said to have been a part of an ancient race," Roxas said though he was having a hard time keeping a straight face as he said this, knowing the "ancient race" was actually a bunch of orange rats. "Would you be willing to take some of these in exchange for lessons?" he asked the old man.

Onigiri picked up the metal egg and examined it closely before looking at the boy in question. He may have been old but he was no fool. There was far more to this boy than most would believe, just like there was far more to his wolf companion. Unlike most people, Onigiri could see the sacred red markings on the wolf and could sense her power, just like he could sense the power in this boy. He decided to accept, seeing what this boy could do. Besides, these strange metal eggs would sell very well to the right buyer. "These will do just fine young man. However I must warn you … I won't hold back in training you simply because you are new. I expect the best of my students. Is that understood?" Roxas nodded and was shocked at what the old man did next.

Onigiri Sensei cross his arm in front of him and his head started to spin for a moment before landing upside down, turning his long mustache into a massive upturned set of eyebrows. A flash of fire appeared behind him, suddenly decorating his white outfit with them as he straightened up. No longer hunched over, he now looked more like a martial arts master that meant business. They entered the dojo, Roxas standing at attention as the dojo master addressed him. "Now then Roxas," he spoke a voice that was harder, like a drill sergeant or serious warrior. "Do you have any experience in combat?" he asked. Roxas nodded and summoned Two Become One and Rejection of Fate and held them in a ready stance. "I see, you favor a two sword style," he nodded as he observed the Nobody. "Very difficult to learn, but once mastered could make you a force to be reckoned with. Now I want you to attack me. I want to see what I have to work with," the old man ordered.

The greater Nobody hesitated for a moment before deciding to just go for it. He attacked the old man as he would a Heartless or demon and was surprised at the results. Onigiri blocked each of his slashes, though the force from a couple pushed him back. The old man in turn retaliated with his own strikes with his wooden bokken. While he was able to block some of them, a number of them did strike the Nobody. The two sparred like this for a few minutes more before the dojo master called for them to stop. "Stop, I've seen enough. You have great skill and instinct with those swords but I can tell you have not had any formal training just experience. You seem to focus quite a bit on offence, leaving your defense lacking. So to aid in correcting this, I will teach you two techniques for now; the Fleet foot and Holy Eagle techniques," he explained in all seriousness.

Roxas dismissed his Keyblades as he listened to the old man's explanation of the first technique. Amaterasu had already learned this and was interested to see how he would fair. The Fleet foot was a type of dodging technique that required one to focus their energy into their legs and sides of their bodies to push themselves out of harm's way at the last moment. The second technique was similar to the first. The only real difference was that it was in the air rather than on the ground. Amaterasu also learned this as it would be useful for her. Both techniques allowed the user to dodge attacks and move about the battlefield with ease to take down one or multiple opponents. The Holy Eagle technique would be especially useful to Roxas as he could it as a double jump and when combined with his glide and Light wing abilities, he was just a short ways from full on flight. 'If I can gain that, it will be massively useful one I reach the World That Never Was,' he thought as he practiced the techniques again and again to get them right.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

On the beach sat the two who had watched Roxas and Amaterasu before. They were sitting on a large towel under an umbrella with a picnic basket. All and all they looked completely out of place as their clothes pinned them as being either English or American in origin rather than the oriental style of this world. The demons in the area gave the couple a wide berth not only because of their appearance, but also because of what they sensed. These were not mere humans, no these two were something else entirely.

The red-haired man poured a cup of tea as he turned his gaze over to the dojo near the shore. "It seems he's learning to adapt well dear sister. Then again, he adapted to the previous worlds fairly well, adding new cards to his deck as it were," he said addressing the woman next to him.

She nodded absently, taking the cup and taking a sip. "Indeed brother, he does have a knack for, as that abhorrent feline put it, collecting what is useful and rejecting only his ignorance. Still, he has yet to make any significant change," she said primly.

The man chuckled for a moment before speaking. "Ah but he isn't the only wildcard in this game. The Heartless too have a part to play," he mentioned.

The woman stopped for a moment considering. "True, those loathsome creatures would have given the demons an edge had Roxas not been there to even it out. Still, they will simply cancel each other out and the result will be the same," she said confidently.

The man shrugged as he poured a cup for himself. "Perhaps, but there is quite a ways to go before this round is over and he has already started to do something most do not do." His companion raised an eyebrow in question, waiting for him to continue. "He's asking questions my dear sister. He's asking not only how but WHY these things are happening and the answers he finds could be quite interesting," he said with a smile. The woman tilted her head in thought before nodding, conceding that point to her brother.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Roxas panted along with Amaterasu as they took a break from training. Onigiri Sensei was a very strict but thorough trainer. The man made sure his students knew the move inside and out and could do it in an instant if needed. Even if it had only been one afternoon, it was still better training than anything he had gotten in the Organization. They had instructed him certainly about Heartless and certain abilities such as magic and his Limit Break, but beyond that they really didn't teach him much. It was also rare that he got a workout outside of battle, allowing him to rest and not use what supplies he had.

Glancing outside, he saw the sun was setting meaning it would soon be time for them to meet up with Rao and search the ship. He stood up and bowed to the old man with the rotating head. "Thanks for the lessons, but we need to get going. We're going to be meeting up with Priestess Rao shortly after sunset," he explained respectfully.

The old man nodded in acceptance. "You have shown me your warrior's spirit. You mustn't neglect that spirit. Train everyday to keep it strong. Listen though both of you. Gaining experience in a single skill is admirable, but you must never lose the drive for self improvement. I pray that you both never forget what it is to be a true warrior." They bowed to each other before going their separate ways.

Once outside, the trio made their way to the lunar observational platform to watch the sunset. Looking down from on top of the platform, they saw the lunar cove that Rao had mentioned before. It did indeed look like a giant waning crescent moon etched into the cove floor, visible through the clear waters. As they watched the sun dip past the horizon, Roxas' mind wander to his days before in the Organization, when he, Axel, and Xion would sit on top of the clock tower sharing ice cream. Those were the best times, when the three of them could just relax and let everything go. No cares, no worries, just three friends enjoying each other's company. They had been friends … hadn't they? Xion had pretty much been his sister in every way that mattered and Axel … Roxas didn't know. Sure the red-head had tried to look out for the two of them, but at the same time he kept important things from them and kept dragging them back to the Organization. He was broken out of his thoughts by Issun jumping on his head.

"Hey kid, you okay? You kinda spaced out on us," the Poncle asked concerned.

The blonde shook his head, "It's nothing, just some old memories." He then looked down at the cove as the stars started to come out. The cove would have really looked beautiful if it weren't for the ship sitting in the middle of it. He looked up into the night sky, seeing plenty of stars but the moon hadn't risen yet. "Now we just need to wait for the moon," he sighed bored.

At this Issun chuckled. "No we don't, show him Ammy!" he said excitedly. Roxas watched curiously as a massive curved line of ink appeared in the sky, a perfect letter C but facing the opposite way. The ink line morphed in a second into the perfect shape of a waxing crescent moon in the sky. It was truly beautiful as Roxas had never actually seen a real moon before. The incomplete Kingdom Hearts didn't count as it had been created by the Organization, Dark Wonderland didn't have one, and he never had time to really see if there was any moon while at Spargus. He was once again broken out of his thoughts by the sound of rushing water. Look down at the cove he could see the image of the waning moon on the bottom line up with the waxing moon shining down. The result was shining circle that encompassed the whole cove. The water reacted to the circle, pulling away and creating an open area. It was like someone had dug a massive hole in the ocean and dropped a ghost ship in the middle of it. He was really starting to question whether or not this world was connected to Wonderland, the Dark or Light version.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Roxas cautiously entered the ruined ship through a hole in its side. They had used a small boat and a rope ladder to get to the edge of the, for lack of a better term, water hole. After quickly picking up a few minor treasures that littered the area they had entered the place and almost immediately; the Nobody didn't like the feeling of it. It was similar to the feeling of when he first entered Halloween Town in that it was creepy. But while Halloween Town was more a calm, almost welcoming type of feeling, this one was a distinctive go-away or get-out type of feeling. It was creaky, wet, stank of rotted wood, flesh, and fish, and looked like it was going to fall apart at any time which added to the feeling. Even worse was that the interior was lit up by floating purple flames. They drifted lazily and seemed to act like torches for the interior of the ship. Over all there was definitely something here that did not like them and wanted them gone. The fact that immediately in front of them was a large door covered in black, red, and dark purple runes added to that feeling. It was like someone took the cursed zone that had been on the coast and applied all of it to that single door. Almost by instinct, Roxas summoned Eco Surge in Scatter Shot mode, ready to shoot anything that moved.

Amaterasu glanced at her companion. While he had helped her on her journey, particularly with the Heartless and getting across the Gojo Bridge, there were still a number of things she didn't know about him, first of which was his weapons. While they certainly had power comparable to any of her divine instruments, they weren't divine themselves and she had never seen or heard of swords like his. Then there was also the weapon he was holding now. She had seen him use it before at the battle at Sei-An City's gate. While it had the same basic shape as his other weapons, he was holding it very differently, like a crossbow rather than a sword just as before. She was also curious as she watched him pull out a strange amulet from around his neck. From what she could see, one part of it was emitting a black light not unlike a cursed zone while another part was emitting a strange gray light that she didn't recognize. Before she could train her senses further on the object, Issun made himself known.

"Wow, that door looks cursed. They probably sealed it up like to keep looters out. But I've never seen such a sinister curse before. I hope this whole ship isn't one big curse. At any rate this puppy ain't going to be easy to dispel," the tiny artist grumbled.

The Nobody cocked his weapon, getting his attention. "That's assuming it was put there to keep people out. My concern is that it was put there to keep something in," he intoned darkly. Ammy's eyes widened at the implications and she was now starting to reconsider going forward.

Before Issun could respond, a third voice came from behind them. "Roxas, Amaterasu." They turned to see Rao running up to them and seeing Issun as well. "You're here already? All three of you?" she said in surprise. "I'm sorry I'm late. My political duties delayed me."

Issun once again swooned at the sight of the gorgeous priestess and her lovely … "assets". "So babe, this is the treasure ship you were talking about?"

She nodded. "Yes … this is where the Fox Rods Queen Himiko was looking for are. It was sunk by the Water Dragon and filled with monsters and Heartless. While my holy powers can easily deal with a few dozen monsters, the Heartless are another matter, hence why I asked for your help," she explained.

The blonde nodded. "The Heartless should be no problem. What is a problem is the cursed door here. Anything you can do about it?" he said motioning to the door.

The priestess gazed at the cursed door carefully. "A cursed door to keep anyone from getting through: that's a neat trick," she said absently before reaching into her cleavage to pull something out. Roxas raised an eyebrow as she pulled out the prayer slips that Amaterasu had found earlier. Taking a slip, she charged it with holy energy and flung it at the door like a knife thrower would a blade. The slip struck the cursed door, causing a reaction. The door crackled as the holy and demonic energies encountered one another. In a moment the curse seal faded and the door collapsed, revealing an open stairway just before the slip flew back into Rao's hand. "There will be more barriers the further in we go. My prayer slips will be able to break the seals and destroy any monsters we may meet," she said with an air of pride.

Roxas nodded his head impressed. "Okay then. I'll take point, you stay with Ammy behind me," he said before walking cautiously forward, Keygun ready to shoot anything that moved. Ammy, Issun, and Rao were surprised by his sudden military like orders, making them wonder even more about their black-cloaked ally.

Almost as soon as they started to climb the steps they say three spirits floating near the top. They were pale white and faded, allowing the group to literally see right through them. While they had no legs, they did have torsos and looked to be the lost spirits of the sailors who had been on the ship when it was sunk. From this distance, they could hear their strained, angry whispers. "_Get out! Leave this place! Leave before you are consumed!_" Snorting at their warnings, Roxas shifted Eco Surge into Blaster mode and let loose a few shots of yellow Eco. Ammy, Issun, and Rao watched attentively as he attacked, curious about his weapon and its transforming ability. The ghosts reeled in shock when the energy blasts connected, having been actually hurt by them. Deciding to up the ante, he switched to blue Arc Wielder mode and let loose a bolt of blue Eco. The ghosts screamed in pain, never having encountered the energy before, and scattered, wanting to get as far away as possible.

Rao looked on impressed. "You wield a powerful weapon Roxas. I am curious as to what it is exactly and where you acquired it?" she asked calmly.

Roxas switched it to Scatter Shot mode again before answering. "I would love to answer that, but later when we're not in a cursed sunken ship full of ghosts and monsters." She nodded in acceptance and the group continued on. They got to one of the main holds of the ship, or at least what was left of it. Down below where they were standing were a number of treasure chests, most looking water logged but still in one piece. On the other side was a large wall that divided the hold. It was then that Roxas noticed a couple of weird dolls standing around the chests. For some reason they really gave him the creeps. He was broken out of his musing by the Chaos Tear flaring up again. Pulling it out, he saw the Darkness gem flaring with the Heartless Emblem appearing on the main crystal. Immediately, he raised his weapon and searched around awaiting an attack. When none came he was confused for a moment until he remembered several other types of Heartless that liked to hide.

Issun having seen Roxas do the same thing just before the battle with the Stealth Sneak spoke up, "Hey kid is something here? Another one of those lizard Heartless?"

The boy shook his head. "Worse, the Heartless are here, but they're hiding. Stealth Sneaks prefer forested or jungle areas so this place wouldn't work for them. However, there are several types Heartless that like to hide in objects and one that I know of that hide in treasure chests and a creepy place like this is perfect for them," he explained as he eyed the treasure chests and creepy dolls with renewed paranoia.

The Poncle immediately saw what he was hinting at. "And since we don't know where these Fox Rods are and have to check them all, we're going to have to deal with them." Roxas nodded. "Well Ammy here can open them from a distance with her Celestial Brush," he stated confidently which the wolf barked in agreement.

"Even still, most of them won't appear unless someone gets close," he said sullenly. After a moment of thought he spoke again. "Okay, here's what we'll do. Ammy, you open the chests from a distance with your brushwork. Any treasure I'll go and collect. You and Rao watch and be ready with her slips incase monster appears. Any Heartless I'll take care of," he said while cocking his weapon again. The group nodded in agreement.

In a flash of divine ink, all the treasure chests below were opened in a few moments. While some treasure came out, there were a couple of chests that only had a few coins and nothing else. Most importantly, none of them looked like the item they were seeking. Roxas jumped down first, collecting and bagging the various treasures. So far nothing happened until he got to one of the chests that only had a few coins in it. As soon as he got close a demonic hand materialized out of the chest and started to come at him. Reacting quickly, he shot the thing at point blank range, forcing back far enough for Rao to tag it with one of her slips. Another one he got close to had a Heartless pop out. He immediately blocked as the Cymbal Monkey tried to disorient him, only to be disoriented itself. A couple of shots later and it was vapor. Not finding what they were looking for, the group continued on, deeper into the cursed ship.

However, before they could leave the room, a unique spirit appeared in front of them. It appeared to be the head of a woman floating in front of the door out of room with long, stringy black hair. Her face was elongated somewhat, resulting a vicious looking mouth with two long curved mandibles on the sides. The most striking thing is that she had pale blue skin and no eyes or nose, just a large mouth with fangs. Below the head trailing behind it was some tattered white cloth that looked like it had once been a kimono. Seeing the spirit, Issun immediately piped up, "What is she doing here!?"

Roxas glanced at the bouncing artist while keeping his weapon trained on the strange ghost. "You know this … thing?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah, she's the Spider Queen. She was corrupting the water supply of Agata Forest in the Tsuta Ruins and nearly ate a defenseless dog when we caught up to her. She was a servant of Orochi but we took her down and purified the ruins," the artist explained while Amaterasu growled at the spirit and Rao watched curiously.

Once again the Nobody raised an eyebrow in confusion. "If she was killed in some ruins in a forest, what is her spirit doing in this ship?" The other three looked at him in surprise at the question. Turning to the spirit herself who, despite not having any forward facing eyes, gave the impression that she was watching them. "Can you tell us why you're here?" he asked calmly.

The pale blue spirit seemed to gaze at him for a moment before speaking in a haunting, yet broken voice. "_Trapped, imprisoned here. My essence, stolen!" _she said, not making much sense. "_Child of the Void_," she said while addressing Roxas specifically, surprising his three companions and putting Roxas himself on guard. _"Help me please, release me from this imprisonment!"_ she begged.

Curious he approached the spirit, switching his weapon to Arc Welder mode as he did so. While she seemed harmless, he was not going to take and stupid chances. "How did you end up here? Issun says you were killed in some ruins in a forest," he repeated the question calmly.

The spider spirit seemed to calm down a little at the question and at someone actually addressing her, though still very upset. "_I was once a young geisha, one of the sacrifices to Orochi long ago. I lived in Kamiki Village and was known throughout for my beauty. Many tried to force me to marry them but I spurned them all. As a result, the village resented me as I refused to bow to their wishes. When it came time for the sacrifice and the arrow struck my home, they offered me to Lord Orochi without any hesitation or regret. I hated them for their cowardice and weakness. When I was brought before the serpent, he saw my hate and instead of devouring me changed me into his servant with the remains of a spider demon from long ago. He commanded me to poison the forest and placed me in the ruins. When Orochi fell a hundred years ago, I was forced to go dormant until he was revived. I resumed my duties in Agata Forest until I was slain by the sun goddess here,_" she said while seemingly glaring at the wolf who just snarled back at her. She then continued her story. _"However, when I was slain my essence was siphoned away. At first I believed it was Lord Orochi saving me but I was mistaken. It was something else, something that was using my power for itself. When it took my essence, it discarded my soul in this cursed ship and now I am trapped here!"_ she screeched in desperation.

Roxas lowered his weapon in thought. From the sound of it, the Spider Queen had been screwed over by Kamiki Village for being too independent and was made a scapegoat for this Orochi. Now she had been a tool for someone else and left to rot here. He knew very well the feelings of revenge, being used, and being trapped. After a moment of consideration he asked another question. "The thing that took your essence, what can you tell us about that?" he asked, again surprising those present.

The Spider Queen was silent for a moment before speaking again. "_I don't know. All I remember was a dark presence and the image of a massive black hand grabbing me and ripping my essence from me. It was cold, the kind of cold that goes through one's flesh and into their very bones. Wherever my essence was taken, it was a dark and cold place. After that I found myself in this cursed ship, unable to leave!" _She then focused on Roxas again. _"Please Child of the Void, release me from this imprisonment and you can name your reward,"_ she pleaded.

Again Roxas looked thoughtful for a moment before Issun spoke up. "Ah come on! You're not actually buying this? She's a demon! There's no telling how many she's gobbled up over the years. She was ready to eat an innocent dog when Ammy and I met her! We should just leave her spirit to rot!" the Poncle declared, bouncing in anger. Amaterasu and Rao said nothing, both curious as to what the boy would do and about that Child of the Void comment made by the spider.

"What's keeping you here?" he asked simply, much to Issun's shock and Rao and Ammy's interest.

The Spider Queen was also surprised that he was willing to help her. Then again, she knew he wasn't human just from the strange feel of him. Shaking off her surprise, she explained what was happening. "_There is a … Dark One, deeper in the ship that is holding all the souls here prisoner. It is draining us, making itself stronger. I've been able to hold out longer than most of the souls here, but I cannot last. It has two servants Jiro and Saburo who guard the way in a room just down this passage."_

"This … Dark One, it wouldn't happen to have black skin, yellow eyes, and an emblem shaped like a heart with three curved points on the bottom?" he asked cautiously, remembering before that Rao and other people had referred to the Heartless as Dark Ones. The stunned spider nodded, confirming Roxas' fears; a Heartless that fed on soul energy. A Heartless that could potentially feed on Nobodies. He had seen something like this before in Halloween Town, but in that case it had been a Heartless feeding on other Heartless. It would have to be eliminated or there was no telling how much damage it would cause. "Let's go," he said, motioning to all of them. "You too Spider Queen, you're going to show us where that thing is and where the treasure is," he said, again surprising them.

It was a moment before Issun spoke up. "Are you nuts!? She's a demon! We can't trust her! How do you know she isn't just going to stab us in the back!?" he said in outrage.

The greater Nobody started walking down the hallway to the next area, not looking back as he spoke. "Because one; if she wanted us dead she wouldn't have warned us, two; she has nothing to gain by killing us here since she served Orochi and he's dead, and three; once that thing drains all the souls in this ship, do you really think it's just going to stay here? More than likely it will then go after the largest concentration of people nearby," he said trailing off.

Rao immediately understood what he was saying. "Sei-An City. With all the people still weak from the mist and defending from demon attacks, they would be easy prey for a monster of that level of power." She then nodded in agreement. "You are right Roxas; we must stop it here before it becomes too powerful." Ammy barked in agreement. Though it was hard to see, Issun gave the impression of scowling as they made their way deeper into the ship.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The group was silent as they made their way deeper into the ship. Amaterasu glanced at both Roxas and the spirit of the Spider Queen. While she was uneasy having the spirit of a former enemy with them, she was surprised at Roxas' willingness to help her. He honestly didn't seem to care that she was a demoness which was odd. Most people, humans especially, as soon as they saw a demon either tried to destroy it or get away. Granted most demons lived to cause trouble for others, but that wasn't always the case. She had met a couple of demons that were friendly; one had been a very strange chef and the other a merchant. She had also met with a few of the imp guards in Orochi's fortress and while they were demons, they weren't evil really, just beings doing their jobs.

There was also that Child of the Void comment she had made. While Ammy did tend to space out, she was still a goddess and did notice important things. She had known from first meeting him that Roxas wasn't human, but she did not know what he was. He didn't have the feel of a demon and certainly didn't act like one. He also didn't have the feel of any celestial or divine being she had met. No, he was something new all together. There was also the fact that he knew so much about these Heartless yet she in her many incarnations had never met or even heard of them until meeting that lizard thing at the checkpoint. So how had this strange boy known about them? She was broken out of her thoughts by the very subject she was thinking on making a comment. "That ... is a lot of bones."

Indeed, in front of the group was a massive pile of bones in the center of a large room. Before they could dwell on it, two identical demons appeared. They looked like massive mutated hermit crabs, one red with what looked like a giant fishtail in place of a shell and the other green with a large fish head instead. The Spider Queen hissed in disgust at the sight of them. _"Jiro and Saburo, the servants of the creature keeping us all trapped in here. Former lovers who had died and sea and now have been enslaved to the creature," _She explained.

Immediately Roxas opened fire only for the crabs to turn around and block the shots with some cursed armor on the fish parts on their backs. Not to be discouraged, he dismissed Eco Surge and summoned Sanity's Edge and Two Become One, causing Amaterasu, Issun, and Rao to look in surprise. While the sun goddess and Poncle had seen Two Become One earlier, they had not seen Sanity's Edge and it immediately put them on edge so to speak. While Two Become One, Rejection of Fate, and Eco Surge all had seemed almost … neutral in alignment, this one was much different. This black and red weapon seemed like a warped version of one of her divine instruments. While it didn't feel evil per se, it was definitely twisted in some way none of them could tell. They could see it had an effect on Roxas as his eyes widened and dart around a few times before settling on the two demons in front of them.

As for Roxas himself, he shuddered slightly as Warped Perception took hold of his mind. It had been a little while since he had used this Keyblade and it made him shake his head to get it in order. Immediately he took the whole scene in within a moment; the small hill of bones in front of him, the crates sitting in the corner of the room opposite the entrance, the ghostly fires floating in the upper parts of the room, and of course the two crab-like creatures in front of him. Without thinking he dashed forward for the green crab with the shark head on its back, Jiro. The crab was shocked and tried to back away, wanting some distance to throw poisonous sea urchins at those that invaded their lair. However the boy in black would not allow it, every time Jiro tried to maneuver to get away from the boy he would do a slash to the side, forcing it to go another route. However, as it backed up it suddenly hit its back on the crates behind it. The creature's eyes widened as it realized it had been literally pushed into a corner. It saw Two Become One blaze with Chaotic energy and had only a moment to act.

Roxas released the Chaos Blades at near point blank range. The wave of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness ripped through the crates but not the walls of the ship. More than likely they were reinforced by the curse that had enveloped this ship. When the wreckage cleared, there was no body remaining, only a hole in the floor. Roxas scowled at the overgrown crab cake retreating and turned to aid Amaterasu and Rao against Saburo.

The red crab demon with the shark tail on its back saw its mate retreat and snarled. It had been going up against the wolf and woman and was not doing well. The wolf's weapons had broken its armor and the woman's slips were powerful seals. Seeing the boy ready to come aid them, it did the same as its mate and crashed through the ground of the ship, planning to regroup later.

Issun scoffed as seeing its getaway. "Stupid crab. Coward ran away when things got tough."

"Well take care of those two later. Right now we need to keep moving," Roxas stated and continued on, his Keyblades still active. The group continued on to the next room, Rao taking down another cursed door as they did. The room they entered had a massive hole in the ceiling, showing the night sky. In front of them was a large barrel attached to chains which were part of what looked like a balance scale, sitting below a doorway that was too high for Amaterasu or Rao to get up to even with the Holy Eagle technique. To their right the wall was actually wooden bars, showing a large hold next to the room they were currently in. In the large hold they could see the other end of the scale empty, nothing hanging from those chains and another barrel hanging above a nearby rack. There was also something else in the larger hold. Roxas narrowed his eyes and peered through the wooden bars, looking into the ghostly hold to see what it was. "There's something in there, something big," he stated ominously.

The spirit of the Spider Queen spoke up, "_That is where the Dark One makes its lair. It uses the sea as a shield, preventing any attack."_

"That's a problem," Roxas muttered as he looked around the room and then at his Keyblades, specifically Sanity's Edge. He got an idea, but had never tried it before in this type of situation. The last time he did was in the battle against the Red King in Dark Wonderland when he first transformed into Vengeance Form. Even then it had been an unconscious action. Deciding he had nothing to lose, for the first time he consciously activated Sanity's Edge's omega ability Checkmate.

Immediately his perception warped as time seemed to stop and the world faded to blacks, whites, grays, and blood reds. It was much different than the last time he had used it, almost as if the ability had evolved somehow or perhaps it was simply the fact that he was using it in a none combat situation. He could see strands of black and red energy swirling around his Keyblade and shoot off to different things around him. They encircled various objects and even encircled Ammy, Rao, and Issun. They even shot up through the hole in the ceiling and into the sky. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen until various things flashed and took on a blood red tint. The sky, Ammy, the scale, and the barrel on the other side of the wall all flashed and took on a red color scheme in his perception. Immediately he understood and the effect ended. He turned to his lupine companion. "Ammy, could you make the sun rise please?" he asked to their shock.

Issun was the first to voice what they were thinking. "Are you nuts!? The ship will flood if she does that!"

"Exactly. We can't go further into the ship or get at that Heartless as things are now. I have a plan to get us all in there but to do it we need to raise the water level first," he explained. Amaterasu looked unsure but complied with his request. A perfect circle of ink appeared in the sky before forming into the morning sun. As the light shown down, the water around them immediately filled the ship and the passageway behind them. "Good, let's head back the way we came. The higher water level should allow us to get to places we couldn't before," he explained as they followed him back into the room where they had encountered Jiro and Saburo.

Making their way via floating wood pallets and Amaterasu's lily pads, they entered the room with the massive bone pile. Floating around it were several kegs of explosives, still dangerous due to being airtight even in water. As they entered, Jiro and Saburo appeared again on the bone pile. Turning towards each other they locked claws and brought their bodies together. The fish body on Saburo aligned with the fish head on Jiro and merged into one creature, growing in size as it did. The result was the large armored demon shark Ichiro.

Immediately Amaterasu and Rao took up positions on the outside edge of the room on some crates. Roxas went to the center, standing on the pile of bones. He watched the shark demon carefully through the clear water. The creature was focusing on him due to his attack on Jiro who had been the head of this shark. It circled, getting ready to strike. The Nobody knew that if he waited the shark would attack on its terms; he would have to force it to attack. Raising Sanity's Edge into the air and cast Thundara. Thin bolts of lightning rained down into the water around him. While the bolts didn't hit Ichiro directly, they electrified the water causing the beast to roar in pain and jump out of the water in order to escape. Seeing his chance, Roxas jumped up and met it in mid-air thanks to the Holy Eagle technique. Slivers of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness emerged from his Keyblades, ensnaring Ichiro. Roxas spun around the shark before spinning himself. With all the force he could muster, he chucked the creature into one of the floating barrels.

The resulting explosion took out a portion of the creature's armor. Seeing their chance, Ammy and Rao attacked. The priestess threw her prayer slips while the goddess used her Power Slash technique, both doing massive damage to the creature. It writhed under the assault before sinking to the bottom of the pool, its corrupted blood staining the water. Once they were sure it was dead, they continued on their way.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

They went back to the first room they had entered in the ship, finally able to get over the divider wall and to another area. Interestingly there were a cannon and a barred door with a strange red padlock on it. With both underwater there was nothing they could do about it. Moving on through the ship, they came to the hall that led to main hold they had seen before through the wooden bars. The Spider Queen stopped. "_I can go no further. That is the lair of the Dark One. If I go I will be devoured. As I said it uses the water as a shield. You will not be able to touch it while the sun hangs in the sky," _the demoness explained.

Issun snorted. "Great plan Roxas, now what?"

The Nobody sighed, before turning to the group. "This is where things get complicated. When we enter you'll see a barrel hanging on the other side, near the balance. While I keep the thing distracted Ammy, you need to cut it down and maneuver it into the chains. After that, you can use the hallway in the back to get to the room with the skylight and change it to night again, draining the water. When the water goes down the scale in that room will go up, allowing you to quickly get back into this room and help me take that thing out," he explained.

"Are you insane!?" Issun said surprised with Ammy barking in agreement.

"Indeed, it does seem like a risky plan Roxas," Rao added concerned.

He sighed again. "I know but we don't have much choice. We can't get into the room with the water level down, but according to the Spider Queen here we can't touch that thing while the water level is up. This is the only way I can see that will allow us to face that thing with the water down," he explained.

The group was silent for a moment before Amaterasu nodded her head in clear agreement. Issun grumbled in agreement as Rao spoke. "You have a point. We will go with your plan. I will provide what support I can, though I don't know how effective my slips will be against a Heartless. Please be careful Roxas, we don't know what this thing is fully capable of." He nodded and they entered the lair of the boss Heartless, leaving the spirit of the Spider Queen behind who was hoping they would succeed where others had failed.

As soon as the group entered the water logged hold, Roxas could sense the Heartless hiding beneath the surface even without the Chaos Tear Flaring up. All of them immediately went up on the catwalk, not wanting to be vulnerable in the water. Looking down they could see a large black form in the water with two yellow orbs that were its eyes. It was watching them but hadn't made a move yet, probably because it was confused as to why they willingly entered its lair. Roxas pulled up his hood and readied Two Become One and Sanity's Edge. "All right, I'll distract it while you make a run for the barrel," he said quickly. The others nodded and got ready.

As if hearing a silent signal, Amaterasu and Rao made a dash along the catwalk while Roxas launched a Thundaga at the watery Heartless. Like the battle with Ichiro, the strike didn't directly hit the target but all the water channeled the electricity perfectly, causing the creature to screech in pain. Good news it got the result Roxas wanted and now it was focused on him. Bad news it got the result Roxas wanted and now it was focused him and ready to kill him. The black form seemed to slither under the water towards Roxas. Once it was in range, several dark blue tentacles shot out and tried to spear him. The Nobody was barely able to dodge thanks to the Fleet Foot he had learned earlier along with Flash Rush. Deciding to mix it up, he cast a few Blizzara and Blizzaga spells. When one of the tentacles right to spear him, he would dodge and it instead would set off the ice mine, freezing the tentacle in ice and causing the unknown Heartless to scream in pain and focus more of its attack on him.

As the creature was distracted, Rao, Amaterasu, and Issun made their way to the hanging barrel. Moving quickly, the sun goddess cut it down with her Power Slash ability, causing it to fall on the rack below. Rao moved and pushed the large barrel into the water and then jumped on top of it with ease. Amaterasu focused on the barrel and used her Galestorm technique to blow it towards the chains of the balance. Once there, Rao quickly attached them to the balance scale, causing the large but lighter barrel on the other end to rise slightly, showing that the plan would work. "All right Amaterasu, the barrel is secure. Now move quickly to the other room and make the moon rise. I will go help Roxas." The wolf barked in agreement and ran off to raise the moon and lower the water.

The priestess turned to see that Roxas hadn't been hit yet, but it was close each time. There were only four tentacles but they were lashing all about, making it hard for him to dodge. Thinking quickly, he jumped up against the wall and used the Holy Eagle technique right there. Since he was pushing off of a solid object rather than just air, the result was dramatically different. He rocketed off the wall and using his glide ability was able to steer towards another wall, ricocheting off of that wall and making it to the other end of the hold, landing on the catwalk. Shaking off the sudden discovery, he quickly looked at where the black mass of the Heartless was. It once again screeched at him escaping and turned to attack when a rushing sound was heard.

Amaterasu rushed back after using the Crescent technique to bring back the moon. With the water receding they could finally get a look at the Heartless that was entrapping the souls of this ship. It was shaped like a long eel with two rows of tentacles lining its back. The top half of it was colored dark purple while the lower portion was a dark blue. Down the line on its body where the two colors met were yellow eye-shaped jewels. Each jewel contained shadows shaped like people, most likely the souls it consumed. Its eel head sported spiral eyes and an open mouth to show the true face of the Heartless, as if the creature of Darkness was wearing the eel like a suit. Both its forehead and its tail bore the Heartless emblem, meaning that it was created from the heart of a living being, most likely a demon given its appetite for souls.

The creature reared up and screeched in rage at having its watery shield taken away. Once again it focused on Roxas, ignoring Rao in favor of the one that had hurt it. The eel-like Heartless, known as a Soul Serpent, reared up like a cobra and lashed out with its tentacles at the Nobody, intent on crushing him. Once again he dodged as best he could; striking the tentacles themselves and deflecting with Two Become One and Sanity's Edge. Unfortunately this did no damage to Heartless and just made it angrier.

Seeing her chance with the creature's back turned to her, Rao launched several of her prayer slips at the monster. They connected in the center of the creature's back causing it to stiffen and halt its movements. Seeing his chance, Roxas dashed forwards from the catwalk to strike at the yellow jewels containing the trapped souls. However, even though the creature was temporarily paralyzed, the tentacles reacted to the presence of something coming at them and swatted him away before he could get close. Amaterasu and Issun reentered the room just in time to see Roxas get knocked away. He cursed out loud. "Damn it! We need to hit those yellow things on its sides but it won't let us get close! Rao, tag it with your slips when you can. Ammy, you and I will attack from a distance when she does, otherwise stay out of its reach!" he yelled just before dismissing his two Keyblades and summoning Eco Surge once more, this time in Peacemaker mode.

The wolf goddess barked in agreement and switched out her divine instrument Infinity Judge for her Life Beads. Running to the side she brandished the holy relic in her mouth like a whip, striking the Soul Serpent and getting its attention. As she did, Roxas once again kicked off of a wall and flew across the hold, charging his weapon as he did. Once he got to another wall, he quickly aimed and let loose the sphere of charged particles. The shot connected, with the creature's side causing it to screech in pain as arcs of electricity raced down its sides along the soul jewels, cracking a couple and causing a few souls to escape.

Once again the Soul Serpent screeched in rage and pain. In response the soul gems that weren't cracked glowed, causing more of the tentacles to become active and causing all of them to become active. Moving quickly, the three fighters moved to try and strike at the jewels containing the trapped souls and the source of the creature's power. Unfortunately, even when Rao paralyzed the thing with her slips, the tentacles were still active and kept most of their attacked from connecting. Whenever one of them would stop to take aim at the jewels, the tentacles and whip around in front of where they were standing, making timing difficult and getting a clear shot even more so. Once it shook off the effects it would slither away to a new position, forcing them to go after it. Simply put, they weren't fast enough.

Roxas became more and more frustrated as the battle went on. The Soul Serpent was taking damage, but at the rate they were going he wasn't sure they would outlast it. They couldn't get close and none of their attacks seemed fast enough do to any real damage. He hadn't tried Event Horizon yet because he didn't have enough experience with it against a powerful opponent like this one. 'Damn it, if I could get close I would use Vengeance but that thing is too fast even with Fleet Foot and Flash Rush! I need … something … else!' he thought wildly. Unnoticed by him, both the Light and Dark gems were starting to glow as if he was unconsciously using Eco Aura, but the result was much different.

All combatants stopped when Roxas was covered in Light and Darkness flowing from his weapon with Nothingness flowing from his body. Wisps from the ship itself leaked out and merged with the energy. It weaved around him into a cold cocoon. From within the shell were flashes of dark blue energy. The energy dissipated and there stood a very different Roxas. His colors were now predominately black, dark blue, and silver. He now wore black pants and boots. His coat was now dark blue with a black sash that held his coat closed along with a scarf around his neck the same color. On his coat appeared swirl designs similar to waves lined the edge and on the cuffs also in black. His shins now had guards shaped like Nobody symbols, colored black and outlined in silver, with matching metal gauntlets on his forearms. His face was almost completely covered by a black and blue mask with vents on the sides. The only thing visible thing under his hood was his eyes which were now emitting an ethereal blue glow. His entire body seemed to radiate cold and as a result a strange mist seemed to collect around his form and leak from his mask. On his back was kanji symbol in black outlined in silver for wraith, naming this new transformation, the Wraith Form.

Letting loose a screech, the Soul Serpent lashed out at him. Jumping quickly, Roxas launched himself off the wall. As he flew by the Heartless, time seemed to slow down him, allowing him to take aim and shoot the gems as he flew past at high speed. The monster turned to strike but he had already ricocheted to another wall, leaving a trail of ethereal mist as he did so that quickly faded. Rao, Amaterasu, and Issun were stunned at the transformation and watched fixated as he flew from one wall to another. He switched between the different gun modes on the fly letting loose a barrage of shots that had wildly different effects. A grenade from the Plasmite RPG struck the floor near the Heartless tail and froze it in place, shots from Blaster mode exploded with fire upon contact, and shots from the Vulcan Fury struck with yellow electricity almost as effective as if he were using the Arc Welder mode.

More and more damage was done, with Wraith Roxas flying around the hold taking shots at the creature and shattering the jewels containing the trapped souls. Once the last of the yellow jewels were shattered, the creature let loose the loudest cry it had so far, whether in pain or rage it was hard to tell. The eel mouth opened wide and the true body of the Heartless slithered out, a few tentacles remaining active since it had lost the souls necessary to power the others. Wraith Roxas now stood on the catwalk, holding Eco Surge in Peacemaker mode and charging it to full power. As the transformed Nobody charged his weapon, bits of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness gathered into the energy sphere, changing and evolving it. The skinned Soul Serpent screeched and struck at him like a mad cobra, intent on taking this intruder down. Wraith Roxas aimed and fired right at the center of the creature's mouth. Instead of a ball of electrically charged particles, it was a fiery blast of plasma with thirteen smaller bolts of mixed Light, Darkness, and Nothingness surrounding it. The bolts took out the remaining tentacles and the plasma shot ripped right through the Soul Serpent's head.

The body of the Heartless fell lifelessly as it faded away, releasing not only one large heart, but several smaller hearts of the beings it had trapped and fed on. Seeing that it was gone, he turned to Amaterasu, Rao, and Issun who was now bouncing like crazy at the sight of his new form. "That was awesome! Why didn't you say you could change forms like that!?" he asked excitedly.

"Indeed. Tell me, how are you able to transform like that?" Rao asked curiously. She had watched the transformation just like everyone else. It had looked like his weapon in combination with the lost spirits in the ship had created this new form. Even now just standing there, her young companion gave off a strange chill, like one would feel in a graveyard at night under a full moon. The mist also seemed to be … blurring him, making it hard for her to focus on him even though he was standing right in front of her. He was becoming more and more interesting as she got to know him.

"Long story," he said in a voice that was his, but was raspy and distorted, much like a spirit's would be. "Again, I'll explain once we're somewhere safe." They all nodded in agreement and turned to leave the room. However, they didn't get far when something started to form behind them.

"Now what!?" Issun asked annoyed. In front of them, several masses of strange black, white, and gray energy gathered, causing Rao to get her slips ready and for Amaterasu to crouch in an attack position. Roxas however was curious as he recognized the energy as Nothingness and had an idea of what was going to appear. In a few moments, the energy solidified into actual creatures. Surprisingly there were TWO new types of Nobodies standing in front of them.

The first type looked feminine, similar to Dancers in size and basic shape. They looked to be dressed in closed pure white robes that covered them completely with long sleeves and pulled down hoods hiding their upper faces and showing only their jagged mouths. The robes extended down and billowed out but did not touch the floor, showing that these new lesser Nobodies were floating a couple inches from the ground. The robe had lilac colored markings all around the hood, chest, torso, and leg areas with the same design as the standard Nobody symbol which was printed on their belly in white in contrast to the lilac. Across their chests and around their waists were dark purple leather straps with dull gray buckles. The most distinguishing feature of these Nobodies was the locks of pure white hair that hung from beneath their hoods in front of their off-white faces, covering where their eyes should be and having two long braids on the sides that hung down to the straps, giving them an interesting look.

The other type that had appeared reminded Roxas of his Samurai Nobodies, only taller and leaner than them. They were in an all white suit with a large zipper on the front and black armor on the shins and forearms. They had a couple of black belts around their waists with several small bags on them and two straps hanging down behind them. Their heads were hidden by a black helmet with six vision slits in the front that curved back into three points shaped like the Nobody symbol. The most distinctive feature of these ones is that their forearms had large gauntlets on them with the ones on the left being much larger than the ones on the right. The left handed gauntlets sported three massive, curved, claw-like blades that were half as long as the Nobodies themselves were tall.

Issun voiced what most of them were thinking. "What kind of demons are these and why are they just standing there?" he asked confused.

"These aren't demons," Roxas stated plainly. They looked to him for further explanation. "Remember when I said that Heartless can be created when a being is consumed by Darkness?" he asked rhetorically.

The Poncle bounced off of Ammy's head towards the white creatures that hadn't moved since appearing. The ones in robes stood calmly with their heads bowed while the ones with black armor were on one knee like warriors waiting for an order. "Yeah, you said they'd become a Heartless based on who and what they were, so what?"

"When a being with a particularly strong will becomes a Heartless, that being's soul instead of fading away will try to recreate its original shell using the power of Nothingness," Roxas explained as he looked over the group that had appeared. "Most of time the souls that try this are unable to completely reform their shell and thus result in these lesser Nobodies, creatures made of Nothingness that have no emotion and operate purely on logic. My guess is that when someone dies normally, they still have their hearts with their souls. That Heartless had trapped people in those jewels and fed off their Darkness and Hearts to grow stronger. Their souls couldn't escape until that thing was destroyed and instead of fading they became these things," he explained motioning to the group in front of them.

Rao tilted her head to the side for a moment in thought. "If that is the case, then what do they want? Why are they just standing there?" she asked confused.

One of the feminine Nobodies came forward and spoke to Roxas in the strange way of Nobodies. _We are Mikos Commander and these are Ninjas. As you have surmised, we are the souls of those lost at sea due to the Water Dragon and that Heartless. We were trapped in that creature's body, our Darkness and hearts taken with no Light to support us. As a result we had to draw on Nothingness to survive. We will follow your orders as you are the highest ranked among us._ The miko that had "spoken" to him returned to the group, looking no different than the others.

Amaterasu watched intently as one of the creatures came forward towards Roxas. It was silent for a few moments as the creature stared at him before moving back into the group. The goddess was confused, what was that about? She was broken out of her thoughts by Roxas addressing the creatures … no the Nobodies directly. "Ok, bring us the hidden treasure in this ship," he ordered them. The ones with the long blade claws nodded and as one jumped over them and ran out of the hold at lightning speed. "Can you heal us?" he asked the remaining ones in robes. They nodded and silently moved forward, seemingly muttering something that sounded like a chant to the sun goddess's ears. Immediately the wounds inflected by the crab demons and the Soul Serpent faded. Moments later the ones who had dashed out returned with an ornate chest and seemed to present it to Roxas. This had a unique seal that was different from the others they had seen in the ship. Tapping it with his Keyblade, Roxas opened the chest to see what was inside.

Inside was a strange wooden hammer with a large head, wide handle, an ornate red swirl mark on the head, and an equally ornate green ribbon tied around the handle. Roxas, still in Wraith form, picked it up and showed it to his companions, not sure what the thing was. Issun answered his unspoken question. "Hey, it's a Lucky Mallet. Is this what you were looking for, babe?" he asked Rao.

The priestess scowled in disappointment. "It can shrink people down until they become so small that they can pass through the eye of a needle. Certainly a tool with such powers is a great treasure, but it doesn't provide an answer to Queen Himiko's prayers for peace. It seems what I was looking for isn't on this ship. Unfortunately we must leave without it," she said dejectedly.

Roxas shrugged and handed the Lucky Mallet to Amaterasu who put it away in the same place as her divine instruments. "Cheer up Rao, at least we took out that Heartless, so we accomplished something here. Speaking of which, where did the Spider Queen go?" he said looking around.

Now Issun scowled, though it was hard to see given his small size. "Bah, who cares about that wench!? Leave it to a demon to welsh on a debt," he said, not noticing Rao and Roxas narrowing their eyes at him as he said that. "Besides it's a big ocean, you'll find what you're looking for somewhere babe," he said turning to Rao.

The priestess sighed again. "That maybe so, but going into the ocean now is suicide. Well, as long as the Water Dragon is around that is …" she trailed off.

Issun huffed in annoyance. "Sheesh. Nobody can shut up about that thing. You'd think the Water Dragon ruled Ryoshima Coast or something! Well don't forget we got boss Ammy here with us and Heartless hunter Roxas as well," he declared with pride.

Roxas finally reverted back to his normal form, silently dismissing the lesser Nobodies who disappeared in flashes of Nothingness. "Look, it's been a long night. Let's go back to the city for now and try to come up with new plan because quite frankly I'm sick of this place," he said tiredly.

"You and me both," Issun agreed as the group made their way out of the cursed ship.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-XIII-**

The sun rose naturally as the group piled in the boat that Roxas had brought. The water closed around ship, sealing it under the waves for good. Roxas rowed for the shore, the sound of the waves calming him after that weird night in the ship. However, the swell of the waves did not have the same effect on Rao. The priestess was suddenly looking around nervously. She turned to Roxas, "C-Can't you go any faster Roxas?" she asked nervously.

He snorted at her. "If you want to help be my guest." The Nobody then noticed her looking frantically behind her and noticed something in the distance. It looked like a massive sail moving fast followed by tall splashes of water before it sank back into the ocean. No not a sail … a fin, a very large fin. He watched behind them as he rowed and saw the fin come up again and turn towards them, showing a pair of them, this time closer before sinking. "What was that?" he asked blankly as he got a sinking feeling in his gut he knew what that was from all that he had heard about it.

Rao was now looking nervously. "The swelling of the waves is a sign that it's coming! We'll be helpless if we're attacked here!" she said desperately.

Issun sighed in aggravation. "Here we go again. If it IS that … Water Dragon, was it? If it is, we'll take care of the beast in a jiffy! It'll regret the day it messed with us!" he declared.

Roxas looked as the surging water near them and muttered to himself. "I REALLY wish you hadn't said that." Then a massive form rose out of the water. It was a giant eel creature with two purple-blue crest-like fins on top of its head running down its back, two smaller fins on the side of its head with long extensions from the end of its nose like a catfish and a beard-like fin on the bottom of its jaw. It wore a gold, engraved helmet and two smaller gold pieces hanging from the fins on the side of its head. It was covered in white scales with patches of blue all over it and teal stripe running down its back between the two crests. The thing over all was huge, easily dwarfing the size of Soul Serpent Heartless of even the centipede Metalhead back in the wasteland. The only thing Roxas had seen that was bigger was the Terraformer and even then it would've been a close match. He summed up everyone's thoughts and spoke it out loud. "Motherfucker, it's the Water Dragon!" he yelled reflexively summoning Eco Surge in Arc Welder mode and opening fire.

The creature reared back in surprise and rage at being attacked. It shook off the blue electricity that had stunned it and reared back to strike. Thinking quickly, Roxas cast Aerora at the back of the boat, mentally forcing the wind sphere to stay there attached to that part of the boat. The winds from the spell propelled the boat forward at great speed, though not fast enough as the Water Dragon gave chase, quickly caught up. It lunged again, going right for the boat.

Reacting quickly, Roxas double jumped to meet it, summoning Two Become One and Rejection of Fate. He stabbed and hooked into it with Rejection of Fate and started using Aura Blade at close range to do as much damage as possible. The Water Dragon shook wildly to get him off as Issun and Rao yelled his name with Amaterasu barking at him, all of them wanting him to get away. Roxas held on for dear life as he slashed at the creature which threw its head back and forth trying to get rid of him and got after the boat. It roared in rage and started to go up and down under the waves, trying to get rid of its attacker while still keeping the boat in sight. The Nobody continued to hold on, his hook-like Keyblade jammed into the creature's head despite being repeatedly dunked underwater and having a death grip on his lodged Keyblade.

Deciding this wasn't working at getting rid of its attacker, the Water Dragon turned and went full steam at a few cliffs sticking out of the ocean near the coast. Seeing what the beast was doing, Roxas waited as long as he could then let go of his Keyblade, jumped up as high as possible, and used his Light Wings to maneuver to the top of one of the taller spires as it slammed its head into solid stone. 'This thing is a menace, I need to take it out now, I don't have much left,' he thought as he was drained both from using his new form and from fighting/running around since yesterday afternoon without any real rest. As the creature recovered, Roxas summoned Twilight Blaze and raised it towards the sunny, cloudless sky.

Amaterasu, Issun, and Rao watched helplessly from show as the Water Dragon moved to strike again. While they were a good distance away, they could see Roxas standing holding one of his Keyblades up to the sky. This one was new as they could see it was bright red and was now flaring with energy. The Poncle was bouncing like crazy, yelling at the top of his voice. "GET OUT OF THERE! YOU'RE GONNA GET KILLED! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" he yelled out. He then looked up to see something coming down from the sky. "NOW WHAT!?" Both Rao and Amaterasu could feel something, a massive power being summoned, the sun goddess especially. She could feel her sun react to an outside power, something that had never happened before. Looking up, she could see a massive bolt of fire coming down. Just as the Water Dragon was about to strike, the solar flare summoned by Roxas slammed into the side of monster.

The trio along with a few early morning risers and sailors watched in awe as the Water Dragon roared in pain as it was burned by the power of the sun, crashing into the ocean with smoke and steam fogging the area and blood staining the nearby waters. No one could believe what they had just seen. The Water Dragon, once a protective deity that went insane and started attacking anything in the ocean, had been taken down by this strange warrior. Many were wondering who this black coated warrior was, none more than Amaterasu and Rao. How could this boy summon the power of the sun in such a manner? Where did he get such power and where did he come from? Most importantly, what was he? They shook off their confusion at the cheering of the few civilian onlookers.

Roxas sighed and sat down on the rock spire, worn out from the long night and summoning the solar flare. He looked towards shore to see that Rao, Amaterasu, and Issun had made it safely. However the moment of calm was destroyed by the sound of rushing water and a massive shadow appearing. He turned to see a rather pissed off Water Dragon lunging at him, jaws open. Before he could react, darkness consumed his sight, the sounds of people yelling at him and the sun goddess howling being drowned out by the creature's roar.

**Journal Entry Day 395**

**Wraith Form**

**Abilities: Mist Cloak, Flow Motion**

**Special Attacks: Phantom Stance, Element Bullet, Charged Shots**

**Final Move: Ether Assault**

**Info**: Created by the combined energies of Eco Surge and the demonic energy found on the sunken ship, the Wraith Form embodies Roxas' cunning and ruthless efficiency giving him incredible maneuverability, magic attacks, and focuses on long range attacks. This form takes his strength and defense and transfers them into his magic and speed. This manifests in two ways in the form. The first is through the Mist Cloak, which is a mist like field that blurs his image from enemies and grants him minor immunity to other magics. The other ability is Flow Motion which evolved from the Fleet Foot and Holy Eagle techniques. It allows him to easily maneuver in any environment through various acrobatic feats such as wall jumping, rail grinding, and rocketing off walls. While this ability does transfer to his normal form, it would not be as strong as if he were in Wraith Form.

In terms of offence, this form focuses on long range and thus works best with Keyblades/weapons that also focus on long range such as the Keygun Eco Surge. While he can use other Keyblades with this form, they would be much less efficient unless they also focus on magic. This form allows him to use magic much more efficiently than normal by allowing him to use it while moving and gives him extreme accuracy with both his weapons and spells. He can also channel elements such as ice or wind through magic bullets or shots from projectile weapons such as Eco Surge. This gives them added effects and damage though it does gradually drain his magic reserves. Also he power up his shots and release plasma-like Charged Shots which are much larger and do more damage though they do require a couple second charge time. The final attack of this form is the Ether Assault, a highly concentrated magic/plasma blast with 13 smaller Chaos bolts that home in on secondary targets if any. Last but not least, while this form focuses on long range, it does have its own variation of Roxas' signature close combat move, Phantom Stance. How this works is that he disappears in a flash of mist and speed and strikes at a single point. Due to his strength being transferred to his mobility, this move is actually slightly weaker than his normal Duel Stance but makes up for it with extreme precision, making it a deadly weapon.

While the Wraith Form is great for long range offence, it does have its drawbacks. This first is that Roxas' durability and strength are lowered in comparison to his normal form so he can take a lot of damage if he is hit thus the need to keep moving. The second is the lack of close range abilities making close range combat very dangerous in this form. Next is the fact that Wriath Form relies heavily on magic, meaning that Roxas can easily drain his mana reserves if he isn't careful despite the extreme mana use efficiency in this form. This also means that enemies that are resistant or immune to magic can easily become a major threat.

Overall Wraith Form is a powerful form best used against groups or large enemies and or in open areas. With the proper equipped weapon(s) this form can easily be lethal to enemies and should not be underestimated by anyone.

AN: Wow, this chapter became a lot longer than I thought it would be and took on a weird life of its own while I was writing it. Still, it brought in a number of things here; the Wisdom Form counterpart, 2 new types of lesser Nobodies, and the first appearance of the Water Dragon. Now anyone who has played Okami will agree with me that when the Water Dragon first appeared in the game it was definitely a WTF moment. Also just to address a couple of minor things, someone asked why the Precursors knew about Keyblades/Heartless but Amaterasu didn't. The answer is that the Precursors were intergalactic beings who have traveled to many worlds while Amaterasu is a stationary being, linked to only one world that up until recently has never encountered Keyblades or Heartless. Also I've reloaded a few past chapters and corrected some minor things here and there, most noticeably changing Bout to Stance as I find I like that better as well as adding a little more description, but not much. Lastly I plan to have this arc go through to the end of the game as I personally love Okami and consider it a great game, so this arc might end up being longer than the previous ones, but that is not definite. For those who have played the game all the way through, please do not reveal anything I plan to introduce a few twists here and there.


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 25: Day 397: Dragonians and Demons

Within Deep Dive, Naminé looked on worriedly at what she was now assuming to be Roxas' area of Sora's Heart. It had been several days since her last encounter with that demonic cat and much longer since Roxas had disappeared. DiZ, Riku, and she had relocated to Hallow Bastion to hide from the Organization and to continue their search for the lost Key of Destiny. They had checked all the worlds he had visited once before as well as the worlds Sora had visited on the off chance he would've gone there due to his Sora's memories. They had found no trace of him anywhere though. As a result, everyone's plans were on hold. In order for DiZ's or the Organization's plans to move forward they needed a Keyblade user and the only one known was Sora. Without Roxas to awaken him, Sora would remain incomplete and asleep.

Even more alarming was that the separation between Roxas and Sora was getting worse. The main pillar that showed Roxas was now over halfway complete, showing more of the Keyblade he was holding, though only the neck portion which had the same black and white coloring and had an etching of the number XIII on it. The other smaller stations had also evolved. The one containing the Twilight Thorn had become a miniature version of the Castle That Never Was with four main towers holding the creature in place with white, leather ribbons and a number of smaller towers and darkened windows shaped like Nothingness symbols lining the side.

There was also the fact that the pillar holding the Red Demon was now complete. It was a twisted medieval castle-like structure with chains extending from the base, wrapping around the Red Demon and ending with manacles attached to its wrists, ankles, and neck. The image on the station was that of a dark haired young woman with the most piercing green eyes that Naminé had ever seen and a small, twisted grin that pretty much proclaimed her lack of sanity. She wore a blue petticoat with a blood stained apron and had her arms crossed holding a highly engraved blade similar to a butcher's knife to the right side of the image and a twisted looking staff with a demonic eye at the end to the left. The outer ring of the station was black and red and had the four card suits running along it. There were five smaller circles around her head showing images of other beings that she didn't recognize. To the left side of her head was the face of a twisted man in a top-hat with large nose, and a gear sticking out of his back. Below that was the image of some kind of dragon-like monster with a long fanged snout and burning eyes. To the left side of her head was a large, insectoid face with a pipe and fez on its head. Under that one was the unmistakable picture of that demonic cat she had met before. Last but not least, in the circle directly above her head was the portrait of a young child-like girl wearing a small crown and had a strange look in her eyes that would make someone think twice about confronting her. There was no doubt now that this station and that blasted demon cat were connected.

That thought made her shiver, or it could have been the new addition to the area, another station. This one like the other two before was only partially complete but she knew it was dangerous just the same. It seemed to be in the shape like an oriental style pagoda with large paper screen doors/windows going up several levels. The main colors of this station were black and dark blue and image itself on the station was not of a human like most other stations, but of some large white canine creature with strange markings and what looked like a large sword of some kind. Similarly the paper screens had images of various scenes involving creatures that were neither Heartless or Nobodies. The thing that made this station unique was that it was covered in snow and ice and seemed to have a weird mist filling its perimeter, obstructing the image of the creature within. Naminé had no doubts that there was some sort of creature in there, but what it was she couldn't say. All she could see as the mist shifted were a pair of narrowed, calculating, and glowing blue eyes that watched her like a predator watches potential prey and several swaying forms behind the ghostly face that held those eyes. The Nobody dared not approach it as she could hear low growling coming from the blue station.

The only good thing these past few days was that she hadn't seen that cat when she came here. Apparently as long as she didn't try to alter anything he left her alone, though it wouldn't surprise her if the thing watched her the whole time like the now three captive creatures did. This made it difficult for her to do much as the connection between Roxas and Sora was now degrading and warping more and more. From what she could tell, it was like Roxas' part was trying to separate itself from Sora by any means necessary while Sora's heart was keeping a death grip on that part but was losing its grip slowly with each new station formed. If this continued, even if they found Roxas he may no longer be compatible with Sora and would not be able to merge. She sighed and turned towards the decaying walkway leading from the center of Sora's heart to Roxas' portion. If she couldn't affect this area without alerting that cat, then she could at least strengthen the connection between the two areas.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-**

Everyone stared at where Roxas had been just before the Water Dragon had risen up and swallowed him whole along with a portion of the cliffs. The rock spires were damaged from the creature's strike, several pieces falling into the water below even now. It was silent except for a few seagulls for a moment as everyone tried to process what had happened. Issun was the first to react, turning towards the priestess in rage, bouncing up and down with steam practically shooting from his ears. "What was that thing!? It was huge!? Nobody told me something like that was on the loose around here! It ate Roxas!" he screamed at her.

Rao was shocked at his shouting and accusing tone. She stuttered a response, still shaken from the encounter and from what she witnessed. This sight of the boy taking the beast head on and summoning a bolt of fire from the sky left her shaking from the devastating power he had displayed along with the beast's counterattack. "I … I'm sure I mentioned something about the Water Dragon … Didn't I? In any case, the Fox Rods were not on that ship. Where on earth are they!?" he replied sourly, crossing her arms under her ample cleavage.

That comment just seemed to tick Issun off even more. "The Fox Rods!? Roxas was just snapped up like a bite of sushi and you're concerned about those things!?" Amaterasu growled and barked in agreement, also annoyed by the priestess's seeming heartlessness.

The woman was stunned again before answering. "I apologize, please don't misunderstand. I am as worried for him as you are, assuming he's still alive, but there's little we can do against the Water Dragon without the Fox Rods. If they are lost in the vast ocean, its realm, then the situation is dire," she explained, calming the two down somewhat.

Amaterasu whined, worried for her friend. Issun echoed her sentiments. "I know Ammy. There has to be some way to find that over grown eel and get Roxas back," the Poncle said sadly.

Rao then tentatively spoke up. "There might be a way. It is said the Dragonians are the ones who control the Water Dragon from beneath the waves. However, getting to their palace under the ocean is no easy task," she explained.

Both Amaterasu and Issun perked up at this. "Perfect, if we can find these Dragonians we can make get that Water Dragon under control and have it spit out Roxas!" he said bouncing up and down in excitement while Ammy barked in agreement, tail wagging at the thought of saving their friend.

The priestess shook her head, "It is not that simple. Ever since the Water Dragon went mad, the entrance to the Dragonian's palace has been hidden. All I know is the entrance is located somewhere in North Ryoshima Coast. I can get the guards to let us pass through the gate, but we will be on our own from there and there is a large curse zone in effect."

"Bah," Issun scoffed. "We can handle the curse zone. Come on, the city and the mist will have to wait, let's get going!" he cried out as the three of them headed for North Ryoshima Coast.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-**

Roxas groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. His head was pounding and the putrid smell of decaying fish and burning acids assaulted his nose, nearly causing him to empty his stomach. His body was sore all over as he got up slowly. He could hear a type of thumping sound, almost like a heartbeat, as he slowly stood up, leaning on some debris for support as he did. His vision slowly returned as he started to look around. What he was leaning on was the remains of a ship that looked like it had literally been chewed to bits by something. The area he was in was only partially illuminated by what looked like a bioluminescent moss or gel covering various parts of the wreckage and walls. There were also dangling balls of light from the sides of most of the walls which themselves were various shades of blue and indigo. On the ground were patches of what looked like fungus, some of which were the size of trees. There were also patches of crystals growing out in various places. "Anybody get the number of that zoomer that hit me?" he moaned rubbing his head.

The area he was standing in was cave like with several holes with water, what he assumed was water, flowing down. The thumping sound was coming from the walls themselves and the whole place was incredibly hot and humid, combined with the smell it was difficult to breath and was worse than Haven City's sewers … almost. As his senses returned to him, which were a mixed blessing given where he was, he replayed what had happened to him in his mind. First was the old man, then the haunted ship, the crab demons, the Spider Queen, that mutated Heartless, the Lucky Mallet, and then … the Water Dragon. "Great, I escape a haunted ship only to be eaten by a mutated catfish. Which way do I go to get out of here?" he asked out loud.

Surprisingly … or not, he got a response. "Paths that end in trouble are all the same, they only appear different when you don't know where they lead," a smooth voice answered as the Cheshire Cat once again appeared next to Roxas. Once again his grin was in place as his demonic, black marked form faded into existence.

Roxas just chuckled at the feline, glad to see a familiar face, even one as disturbing as Cheshire's. "I was wondering where you went. Why haven't I seen you around?" he asked the feline.

The cat growled out his response. "While fighting like cats and dogs is only an expression, it is one I do not wish to test with a divine canine. Regardless Roxas there is more to all of this than you realize ... and there is certainly more down here than nasty leftovers, the main stomach is especially fascinating if you can stand the vile stench," he said before fading away.

Roxas shook his head as he turned to go deeper into the digestive tract of the Water Dragon. "I can't believe I'm willing going down into the gut of a mutated catfish. This had better be worth it you mangy furball," he muttered to himself as he started down into the stomach.

Before he could take a few steps however, another voice broke through his thoughts. "You keep strange company child of the Void," a familiar female voice said. The Greater Nobody looked around in surprise, wondering where the source was as it sounded close. It was then he felt something crawling up his leg. Looking down he was surprised to see a massive spider, though this wasn't a normal spider by any means. For starters it was huge, easily four inches long from front to back with each of its legs being twice as long. It was colored a pale off white-gray on its main body and legs with pale blue on the tips. Its abdomen was dark green where it connected to the rest of its body and paled into a light forest green going from the body to the end. The strangest thing was that it had a humanoid head on a neck with black hair and long fang-like mandibles on the sides. It was the head of the Spider Queen. What was different now was that she had eight eyes facing forward, two large, rust colored ones with six smaller ones around them. The new form of the Spider Queen crawled up until she was on Roxas' left forearm which he brought up in order to properly look at her.

While the eyes were all one color and looked more like small gems, they were actually very expressive and were now showing curiosity and intrigue, which was returned by the Nobody. "Spider Queen? Where did you come from and how did you end up like this? Last I saw you were nothing but a ghost," he asked curiously, recalling the transparent head he had seen on the ghost ship. He hadn't seen her since before he faced the Soul Serpent. Considering that the former Heartless had fed on souls, he hadn't blamed her. Still what was she doing here?

"I am a queen no longer child of the Void. Call me Kumotome for now," the spider said calmly. "As for how I came to be in this form, I am unsure. I was just outside the room while you battled that serpent Dark One, watching what happened. I saw your transformation and victory when the remains of the entrapped souls were released. I was caught in their reformation but mine was different. While I did absorb some of the energy they used I did not become one of them. Since I was still aware during my reformation I attached myself to your coat as you left the ship. I was surprised at your willingness to take on the Water Dragon and nearly defeating it. You passed out after its last attack and I've been waiting for you to wake up," the spider explained.

Roxas looked at her oddly, going over what she had told him. "So you absorbed the Nothingness and tried to reform into what you were before, but only got this far?" The spider gave the equivalent of a nod while he stood silent in thought. He knew Nobodies were formed when a person with a strong will lost his or her heart to Darkness and their soul refused to fade away. That soul would draw on the power of Nothingness and form a Nobody. Lesser Nobodies were the result of souls who had enough will to survive but not enough to completely reform their shell. Greater Nobodies as far as he knew were souls that did have enough will. However, what Kumotome told him just now didn't fit quite right with that. She had been a spirit, a soul that still had its heart, Darkness, and Light. So theoretically, she should have been able to reform into her original form which he assumed was much larger then this was. A thought then struck him.

"You said earlier that your essence had been taken, what did you mean by that?" he asked her as he started to walk forward deeper into the stomach.

Kumotome tilted her head in curiosity before answering. "My original body was taken from me along with most of my youkai. It was as if they were taking everything that made me a demon and leaving only the parts of me that had once been human, though very little of that remained after so much time and I was able to hold onto some of my youkai, but only a few scraps. Do you know what happened Void child?" she asked calmly.

Roxas was deep in thought. Kumotome had tried to reform herself into her demon form but only had her atrophied human side and a few broken pieces of her demon side. To put it simply, she didn't have enough of her original self to reform her original body and thus ended up in this diminished form … just like lesser Nobodies. They were simply beings who lacked enough of their original selves, specifically their hearts along with their Light and Darkness, and thus ended up in "lesser" versions of what they originally had been. But that brought up the question; what was the difference between lesser Nobodies and greater Nobodies? He relayed this all to the spider now sitting comfortably on his shoulder.

The spider hummed in thought for a moment before responding. "That is a reasonable theory Void child; it would also explain why my emotions seem a little faded at the moment. But as you said, the question becomes what is the difference between lesser and greater Nobodies? What do you know of greater Nobodies?" she asked him as they carefully made their way deeper into the stomach of the Water Dragon, avoiding the remains of fish, ships, and any creature that had been unlucky enough to be caught in its path.

The Keyblade wielder mentally went over everything he knew of greater Nobodies and subsequently Organization XIII. He knew they all had memories from their life as a Somebody, a weapon unique to them, total control of an element, commanded lesser Nobodies, could survive in Darkness … wait a moment. An element. Roxas stopped in his tracks as his mind latched onto that thought. Each of the Organization members had commanded an element, not one of the Prime elements like Light or Darkness, but a more common element like fire, water, ice, etc. As far as Roxas knew, no lesser Nobody could create or control a common element. In fact they didn't use elements at all, just the power of Nothingness in various forms. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Heartless used elements all the time, even the lower ranked ones, and they were theoretically the missing halves of Nobodies. If a soul wanted to reform into what it had once been, it would need to find a substitute for the missing heart and the missing Primal elements of Light and Darkness, most likely the more common elements found on various worlds.

He mentally went down the list of members of Organization XIII, comparing them to the elements they wielded. Xenmas was cold and logical, a perfect match for the power of Nothingness and thus had probably drawn in much more of it during his reformation than the standard soul. Xigbar was a guy who was never direct, always coming at things from odd angles and never answering things directly, complimenting his power over space. Xaldin was serious and brutal, always pushing his point of view, much like a tornado or hurricane. Vexen had been cold and aloof, thinking himself flawless like a sheet of ice. Lexaeus had been quiet but powerful, preferring to let his rock-solid strength do things for him. Zexion had been a planner, using cunning and deception to get what he wanted and to mislead others with illusions. Saix was definitely like the moon from which he drew power, calm, and peaceful at first glance but contained a dark side and controlled far more power than one would think. Axel's personality had been fiery, preferring to do his own thing, matching his element well. Demyx has been a lazy slacker, always wanting to take the path of least resistance like water tended to do. Luxord was definitely a man of patience, taking his time to observe the game before making a play. Marluxia represented his element of plants well, being tempting and endearing at first glance but hiding the poisonous part of his personality. Last was Larxene who never liked to be held down, was always moving, and while beautiful, was as swift and deadly as any lightning strike. Even Xion and himself confirmed the theory as their Somebody had been closely aligned with Light, so his soul had tried to draw that Light in to recreate itself, resulting in the two of them and the powers they wielded.

Each soul had tried to find a replacement for the heart it had lost and drew in the closest matching thing or element to that heart. Now that he thought about it, it was obvious that each greater Nobody attracted the lesser element that was most closely related to their original personality and used that as a replacement for the Light, Darkness, and heart they had lost, reconstructing their original shells with that element. It also explained how they could use those elements with such ease. He relayed this to Kumotome as they came to a large open area of the stomach. The spider agreed with the theory as it made the most sense for the time being

Looking in the center of the "room" was something suspended high in the center above a platform of flesh suspended by tendrils of stomach muscle. It looked like a glass sphere with a carved coral dragon wrapping around it. It was pulsing softly with energy in time to the heartbeat of the Water Dragon. Roxas brought up his arm and flipped open Compass. "Compass, analyze object and its connection to the Water Dragon," he ordered, staring at the strange ball.

[Analyzing object …object analyzed. Object is crystal sphere with an internal coral network attached to exterior dragon sculpture, radiating energies matching those of current environment. Pulses match those of brainwave activity and heart rate. Conclusion: 89.2% chance object is sustaining entity known as "Water Dragon" by acting as secondary power source and cerebral relay,] the computer intoned, surprising both the Nobody and the demon spider on his shoulder.

"Interesting device child of the Void. An artificial spirit guide of sorts. I have seen many contraptions scattered throughout Nippon, but none with a design like this. But what did it mean?" she asked curiously.

He closed the computer, staring up at the orb. "Call me Roxas and what it meant was that this orb acts like a power source and second brain for the Water Dragon, relaying info form its central mind to the rest of its body. We take that and I'll bet the Water Dragon will be out of business," he said while summoning Two Become One and Twilight Blaze.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-**

Waka watched in distaste as Rao, Amaterasu, and Issun made their way to the sapling in North Ryoshima coast. Normally the sun goddess would have never been able to get close to it due to both the guards and due to the fact that demons finally wised up about the cursed zones. They had placed the curse zone in such a way that the sapling had been surrounded by it, unable to be approached by anyone not used to or immune to demon taint. The Tao master would've revived the sapling himself after the sun goddess stopped the mist in Sei-An City, but because of that false priestess they were able to create a path in the cursed zone to the sapling and were getting ready to revive it. Oh he knew what she really was and what was going on, he had planned all of this, but now his plans were being forcefully reorganized, all due to that … boy.

The brightly colored swordsman scowled at that thought of that … creature Roxas. He had changed everything as soon as he and the Dark Ones had appeared. The Dark Ones were now servants of the demons and added to their forces considerably thanks to their strange and varied forms. Even he, a thoroughly experienced Tao master and swordsman had limited effect on them as he had never seen them before. Roxas however seemed to know them intimately and had countered both the lizard creature and the spell binder at the gate easily. Because of this he had allowed him to remain with Amaterasu despite not knowing what the boy truly was. Now however it was apparent he would be a problem. He had gotten Amaterasu to ignore him and now instead of going after the mist, she was going after the Water Dragon.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the holy shockwave emanated from the sapling, clearing out the curse zone and opening the path even more for them towards the Dragon Palace. It would not be long before they found their way to the bottom of the sea and to the lair of the Water Dragon. They would soon learn how to summon Orca and make their way to both Catcall Tower and to the Dragon Palace to find Roxas. Waka was under no illusions that the boy was dead, he had nearly taken down the Water Dragon with his power even after his trip through the cursed ship. 'Once he reappears, I may have to deal with him myself,' he thought grimly and made his way back to the city to reorganize his plans.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-**

Roxas scowled at crystal orb hanging in the center of the chamber. He had tried different Keyblades but the result was the same. Two Become One's abilities; Twilight Edge, Aura Blade, and Chaos Blades were ineffective as the rubbery muscle that held the sphere absorbed and shrugged off a lot of the force behind the attacks. Any damage that he did was quickly healed and any progress lost. Twilight Blaze also ineffective as the muscle seemed to be highly fire resistant which made some sense given that the Water Dragon seemingly ate anything and everything. "Well … now what?" he asked dejectedly.

"Perhaps I might be able to help," Kumotome said as she leapt off of Roxas and onto one of the strands of muscle holding the orb. Crawling down the strand, she went to where it held the orb in place and then bit down on it, injecting her acid poison into the fibers. The result was immediate as the tissue let out a hiss and melted away, unable to regenerate because of the poison, showing that while her form was diminished, the former Spider Queen was still very lethal. The spider continued to dissolve the strands until only one was left, hanging from the top of the chamber. Roxas positioned himself underneath it and made ready to catch it. The white spider bit into the last strand, causing it to fall into his waiting hands.

The room convulsed a little bit at the orb being disconnected from the beast. He held the orb that was still pulsing softly as Kumotome crawled back to his shoulder. He tucked it under his arm and made to leave when he saw a bright purple light appeared in the room. Nine violet colored flames appeared in a circle around the two of them. Each of the flames rose up and started to dart around like agitated fireflies. "What are these?" Roxas asked as he summoned Two Become One.

Kumotome watched the darting wisps as she spoke. "These are demon fires Roxas … specifically foxfire," she quickly explained as they both waited for an attack. However, to their surprise after the former Spider Queen spoke, the chaotic purple flames seemed to calm down, no longer acting angry but now floating around them as if on a soft breeze. They were giving off the feeling of curiosity now, as if studying the two of them. This was confirmed when several of the flames seemingly spoke as one in multiple distorted female voices.

"Child of the Void, taking the Dragon Orb, allied with the sun goddess, we should attack," several of them seemed to say in unison.

Several more replied. "But he allies with a demon cat and the once Spider Queen, enemy of the sun goddess. Why?" they asked confused. "What is your purpose Child of the Void?" they addressed him directly.

The greater Nobody slowly lowered his weapon though he did not dismiss it. "To stop the Heartless, the beings you call Dark Ones from destroying this world. They may be under demon control now, but that will not last. They will break free and everyone will pay that price, human and demon alike," he explained watching the foxfire cautiously.

"What of the city?" the demon spirits asked. "What is your connection to the city and why do you defend those who inhabit it?"

He raised an eyebrow but answered anyway. "The same, to keep it from falling to the Heartless. If it falls to them they will get out of control." He then decided to ask a question of his own. "What is your connection to Sei-An City? Why do you want its people destroyed?"

The balls of foxfire were silent as they seemed to debate with one another. Finally they answered, only this time it was a single voice from a single flame. "We are the spirits of the kitsune, a tribe of demons that once lived on the shores of Lake Beewa. However, almost two hundred years ago we were driven from its shores by the humans and they began to build their retched city on the ruins of our home. Even worse is that they hunted us down, all thanks to that man that led them," the spirit explained.

"What man?" Roxas asked curiously.

The spirits seemed more agitated but did not move to attack. "We do not know his name, only that he had great spiritual power and hair the same color as yours. It was only a scant few weeks ago that one of our few remaining descendents found our graves and was able to take our power to avenge us. They took our home and sought to exterminate us! Even now that man still lives and plots against us!" the spirit raged.

"Roxas," Kumotome interrupted, "that was around the same time of Orochi's and my revival."

"Okay," he said to himself before turning to the demon spirits. "I don't know what's exactly going on with Nippon, but I don't believe in coincidences, especially involving multiple demons of great power all appearing at the same time. This all stinks of a set up of some kind and I will get to the bottom of it. In the mean time, do you want to stay in here or would you rather leave with us?" he asked them.

The foxfire spirits were surprised at the offer. Confused, the single voice spoke again. "You would … grant us passage out of this place? Why?"

Even Kumotome was looking at Roxas oddly, waiting for an answer. "Look … I understand you want revenge for what was done to you, believe me I know too well what it's like to be screwed over by someone else's plans. However it sounds like you want revenge against this blonde haired guy and not the people of the city. They probably have no idea that the lake used to be your home considering it was several hundred years ago so killing them would be no different then what was done to you years ago. Would you be willing to leave the city alone if I were to provide a new home for you and any other demons as well as revenge against this blonde guy?" he offered, already considering where he could send the demons where they would be accepted.

The demon spirits were even more surprised now. This strange boy was offering a new home and vengeance just to save the city? Then again he did have a point; the people of the city were ignorant of their own history and while most demons were vicious and indiscriminant of whom they terrorized, kitsune were smarter and had more morals then most. Not many more mind you, but a few more. The violet flame representing the single voice came forward slowly even though all the voices spoke as one now. "We must reunite with our Lord before we decide. We will come with you, child of the Void … Do not disappoint us," it said ominously. The nine lights swirled around and then forged together to make a strange object. It looked like a bundle of bamboo tubes tied together with a strange ribbon marked with various kanji. The tubes themselves varied in size, shape, and length with each covered by a paper cap of a different color. The bundle was about the size of a pan flute with nine different tubes. Roxas carefully picked up the bundle, knowing that these were the Fox Rods Rao had spoke of earlier

He carefully placed it back into his coat as Kumotome spoke to him in a warning tone. "Those are the Fox Rods Roxas, a legendary artifact among demons, said to have been created by one of the first kitsune. They hold a terrible power and were thought to have been lost long ago. Use extreme caution with them." Roxas nodded in agreement as the entire chamber suddenly started convulse.

It then hit Roxas that the Dragon Orb had acted as a power source and relay for this thing's nervous system and without it, everything was failing. "Time to go!" he said as he jumped up and ricocheted off the walls, using Flow motion to get out of there as fast possible. As he did he noticed that the stomach of the Water Dragon was shrinking, fast, as if the whole beast was imploding on himself. He pushed himself as fast as he could with the remains of the Water Dragon's various meals closing in on him as space in the stomach quickly vanished. He saw the shrinking exit of the Water Dragon's mouth, now barely the size of a normal door with a tsunami of corpses, wreckage, and stomach fluids behind him. With one last burst, he rocketed past the beast's teeth and out of its mouth …

Only to go flying though a pair of ornate doors made out of polished blue stone with a gold image of the Water Dragon on it, covered in puke, and scaring the crap out of the guard who barely avoided the doors as they swung open. He bounced across the tiled floor like a small stone going across the top of a pond with his arachnid companion hanging on for dear life. He bounced a few times before landing on his back and skidding to a stop in the middle of the lobby, staring up at a beautiful chandelier made of what looked like coral.

Kumotome nudged the side of his head with one of her frontal legs from on top of his chest. "Are you okay Roxas?" she asked worriedly.

She got a groan in response as he lifted his head to look at her. "I've just be been barfed up by biggest eel in history, I'm covered in its leftovers, and I feel like I've been shot out of a cannon. What do you think?" he said sarcastically.

The spider snorted at him. "Well there's no need to be rude." He just groaned and laid his head back down on the tiled floor of the Dragon Palace, content to just lay there and take a nap despite being covered in puke.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-**

Otohime, the queen of the Dragonians was shocked to learn that her husband, Wada the 27th king of the Dragonians had returned. She had all but given up hope ever since battle with the Dark Lord, when he took on the form of the Water Dragon, took the Lord's dark instrument, and went mad as a result. As the Water Dragon, he had destroyed countless ships and killed many innocent people due to his madness. Even worse was that the transformation could not be undone as they had no way to retrieve the Dragon Orb, the sacred item necessary for the change.

Now she was being told by her guards that a strange human boy in a black coat had been launched out of the Water Dragon's lair holding the Dragon Orb with a small spider demon on his shoulder. The boy himself was covered in the remains of the Dragon's meals and seemed exhausted, injured, but was still alive. Going into their lair they had found her husband, weak from his extended time as the guardian deity of the ocean, but still alive and would make a full recovery eventually. This was all truly a shock to her as she had been told by the prophet of Sei-An City that the sun goddess Amaterasu would retrieve the Orb, though her husband would not survive. Had he lied to her? Was his prophecy a false one or had this boy somehow changed her husband's fate? Regardless she now owed him a great debt and possibly a debt to the spider demon as well. She turned to her waiting guard, "Have him cleaned up and his wounds attended to. Let him rest and when he is able, bring both him and the spider demon to me," she ordered. The guard nodded and went to carry out her queen's orders.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-**

Rao ran up the side of Catcall Tower, keeping up with the sun goddess as they headed higher and higher. Thanks to the young man Urashima, they had learned how to summon the Palace Emissary Orca by waiting on a nearby dock at dawn. However, due to the rampage of the Water Dragon and the rise of demons and Dark Ones, they could not go to the Dragon Palace until they discovered its hidden entrance, passing the test set by the leader of the Dragonians Otohime. Hearing the echoing cat yowls all through the coast, they had ridden Orca to this island first for any clues. Surprisingly the tower was covered in the mark of Kabegami, the brush god of walls and barriers. As a result, they were now running up the tower towards the top to see what secrets it held. Already they were far higher than most trees and even some mountains and still going higher. Whenever they got past a certain point a field of energy of would emerge, creating a floor or net to catch them if they fell off. Even stranger was that there was a common housecat on each level.

As they rose, Rao's mind wandered to the powers that Roxas had shown. His weapons, two very strange swords, changed forms as needed and could become a powerful long range weapon, one that could even affect spirits from what she had seen. There was also his unsettling transformation. She had watched him absorb the power of those lost souls and become something else. The mark on his back had named him a wraith, a powerful undead creature, though it seemed more a title than an actual label. The way he had moved and the attacks he had thrown against that Dark One worried her. Such power was not something to be taken or used lightly. What was even more troubling was the fact that he was not surprised by it, as if such a transformation was normal for him. It made her wonder if had become that wraith thing before or something similar. There was also the matter of that strike from the sun he had summoned against the Water Dragon. 'That could be a problem for my plans,' she thought as she continued to follow Amaterasu up the tower.

There was also his warning about the Dark Ones, what he called the Heartless. He said that they would grow too powerful to control and would eventually run wild. The way he spoke hinted at something far worse than those creatures simply going out of control of the demons. She shook her head, dispelling the thought. 'He was wrong, they can and have been controlled and will continue to be until their usefulness to the demons has ended. I will not let this chance slip through my fingers,' she thought until they finally reached the top of the tower, high above the clouds. At the top was a shrine like dwelling with a massive cat statue on the roof. As they made their way through the shrine, they came to the source of the meowing echoing all over the coast … a common black, white, and orange housecat.

Issun was the first to voice their confusion. "Look over there, it's another kitty cat. Wonder what's it doing all the way up here? Surely it didn't climb all the way up here, did it!? I mean there's nothing to eat all the way up here," the tiny artist said surprised. The wolf agreed and calmly approached the feline with the priestess watching in curiosity. Reaching into her supplies, Amaterasu gave the whining cat some fish that she had with her. After eating its fill, the housecat meowed one last time in thanks, curled up, and started to take a nap, purring as it did so. "It stopped meowing," the Poncle stated happily, not that Rao could blame him, that yowling was starting to grate on her nerves.

Before she could get them to continue their search, a strange light filtered from above, sparkling gently down on them. Looking up they saw a patch of the night sky appear despite it still being mid-day. It shocked the priestess to no end and was even more surprised at Issun's words. "Eh? A constellation? Here!?" he exclaimed as the patch of night sky showed a cluster of stars, or more accurately only two stars. It seemed they were placed in some sort of picture, but were missing some other stars. Watching carefully, Rao saw how Amaterasu applied the missing stars like the artist she was with her celestial brush, completing the picture and the constellation.

The constellation flashed as it filled in showing a wall screen with the image of a tree on it and a carved fish on top. Sitting on the side of the tree was another housecat, though this one was much larger than the others in this tower and was colored much differently. It was white and had sacred red markings identical to those on Amaterasu as well as flowing fur extensions just like hers. The cat leapt down and landed in front of the sun goddess. When it landed, the area around them faded into the sacred realm, a calm world covered in white clouds with mountains and trees seemingly painted in the background, almost like a nice dream. The cat looked at Ammy and noticed Issun sitting on top of her head. Crouching down, it leapt up and snagged the Poncle in its mouth. Surprised, the wolf turned around to see the cat batting him around back and forth like a ball of yarn. Barking in playfulness with tail wagging, the two ran off, Issun bouncing between them as the landscape became even more beautiful, blossoming into a field of wildflowers.

Rao watched them play, eyes narrowing slightly before they finally stopped, sitting across from each other with Issun dazed between them looking punch drunk for the most part. The priestess had to chuckle at that. 'Serves the little pervert right,' she thought as a female voice broke the comfortable silence.

The cat spoke, her voice melodic and soft as well as respectful as she addressed the wolf. "Ah … Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all. The swirling whirlpool of evil below has driven me to this height. From this perch, I observe the world below and its descent. If my power is needed once again, I, Kabegami, god of walls and barriers, shall gladly offer a bridge of hope to the realm below!" she said with conviction. Light pooled around the cat goddess and formed into the kanji for wall. The ball of light shot forward, leaving a stardust trail, circled around Amaterasu once before merging with her. However, something was strange here. Normally when a brush god gave their power to Amaterasu, they themselves faded away along with the celestial realm. This time however, they remained as it seemed Kabegami had more to say. "Oh great Amaterasu, I have seen your friend, the child of the Void from my perch here above and he has already quelled a part of evil whirlpool. Be aware that not all is as it seems as the lines of what is good and evil will be blurred and that there is a difference between demons … and monsters," the white cat intoned before everything faded away, leaving the priestess and sun goddess back on the top of Catcall Tower with the power of the Catwalk and an irate Poncle covered in cat and dog slobber.

The tiny artist got up, ticked at being batted around. "Hey! I'm not you personal toy to be played with like that!" He then shook it off and took his place back on Ammy's head. "That was one of the brush gods, Kabegami, the one with the Catwalk brush technique. With that there's no place we won't be able to climb to!" he said excitedly, bouncing up and down in excitement. However, he stopped after a moment and stood in thought. "But it was odd that she stayed behind to talk more. Most of the brush gods just gave you their power and left it at that. She said the child of the Void had quelled part of the evil whirlpool and that there was a difference between demons and monsters." He stood silent for a moment before Rao decided to add her thoughts to the matter.

"Child of the Void, did not the former Spider Queen call your friend Roxas by that name?" she asked tentatively.

Issun perked up at this. "Yeah, that's right babe she did, but what does that mean? What is he anyway, we still don't know anything about his weapons, or that weird form of his," he grumped.

A thought struck the priestess and she decided to voice it. "What about those … Nobodies that appeared on the ship? Roxas had said they were the souls of those who had lost their hearts to the Dark Ones and had to draw on Nothingness, on the Void to try and reform themselves. He said that most of the souls that try are unable to truly reform the shell of who they were and ended up in those deformed states. But … what of those souls who are able to reform their shell?" she asked as it started to dawn on all three of them just what Roxas was.

Amaterasu cocked her head to the side as she thought about it. It made sense somewhat. Roxas knew about the Heartless, the supposed counterparts to these … Nobodies. He had felt like he wasn't truly there, like a cutout in a painting but different filler all together, as if someone had started to put a clay mold in a spot previously occupied by paper and paint. He had a wide variety of strange powers and those other Nobodies had obeyed his commands without question. However there was a problem with the idea. Roxas had said that Nobodies were beings of logic without any emotion and while he was certainly smart and observant, he was not emotionless. No one could fake a reaction like his when the Water Dragon first appeared to them on the boat. They would have to find out when they found him again as Kabegami's words echoed in her mind. "Be aware that not all is as it seems as the lines of what is good and evil will be blurred and that there is a difference between demons … and monsters."

Back in the celestial realm, Kabegami watched as Amaterasu and her companions left her tower, grinning a little to herself. She turned her head as a strange mist formed and solidified into another feline form, though this one was far less divine and far more demonic. "Ah Cheshire, advisor of the mad empress and emissary of Wonderland, it is good to see you," she said calmly and respectively.

The tattooed cat bowed in reverence to his divine counterpart. "Indeed Kabegami, I see you have given Lady Amaterasu a warning," he said as he too watched the group leave the tower and continue their search for the Dragon Palace.

The white and red cat nodded. "Yes, while my loyalty to Mother Amaterasu is absolute, I could not tell her what I truly knew with the … priestess and the Poncle being there. Still, my warning will have to suffice. It will remain in her mind and keep her cautious of what is to come. Do you think it will be enough to spare those who are innocent?" she asked him curiously.

He chuckled a little before responding. "Who is to say my dear? The strands of fate and prophecy are being cut and rewoven thanks to the intervention of my charge. He may have once bore the title of Key of Destiny, but that title has been thoroughly extinguished and he now may yet earn a different title all together. What will happen, will depend on his findings, but even now I can see the wheels turning in his head, putting the little pieces together. It will certainly be interesting to watch though," he said with a chuckled.

The cat goddess sitting on the wall chuckled as well, her mouth sporting a grin a well though nowhere near as wide as Cheshire's. "It always is. As I said, my loyalty to Mother Amaterasu is absolute, but that doesn't mean I can't have some fun of my own," Kabegami said as she turned to see how everything would play out, knowing her fellow feline understood all too well. They may have been on opposite ends of the divine/demonic spectrum, but they were still both cats after all and cats do not give straight answers.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII -XIII-XIII-**

Roxas woke slowly, his mind coming out of the fog he was in. Waking up from sleep was a lot different from being knocked unconscious and thus his head didn't hurt as much as last time. As his senses returned, he realized he was not on the cold hard floor he had fallen asleep on and was instead on a very soft bed. Slowly sitting up he found that most of his clothes were missing. He had been stripped down to his boxers and several of his wounds had been attended to. While the Mikos had healed some damage back on the ship, it was only a temporary fix at the time. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he saw that he was in a well furnished room with the main colors being blues and purples. It was lightly furnished with a small table where his clothes lay, washed, dried, and folded neatly. Sitting next to them was the bundle of bamboo rods that made up the Fox Rods. "What happened?" he asked out loud, trying to focus his mind.

A female voice from above answered him. "You fell asleep after being launched from the Water Dragon's mouth. Considering the night you had in the cursed ship and in the dragon's stomach it's not too surprising," Kumotome said as she lowered herself on a silk thread from the ceiling. "Afterwards the Dragonians found us. I was able to explain what we had done and it turns out they now owe us a debt. The Water Dragon was actually the Wada, the king of the Dragonians. That orb we retrieved, the Dragon Orb, is a sacred relic that he used to become the Water Dragon. He had used it to fight off the Dark Lord of Oni Island. The result was he took the Lord's dark instrument, the Fox Rods, but they in turn drove him insane, making it so he was unable to change back. Because we were able to remove both the Orb and Rods, the king reverted back to his normal form. He is currently resting but will make a full recovery. The Dragonian Queen Otohime wishes to see us as soon as possible." Roxas nodded and donned his clothes and jacket, pocketing the Fox Rods as he did so.

The Nobody exited the room with his arachnid companion once again on his shoulder. The Dragon Palace was truly magnificent, as if the entire place was made out of coral, which may very well have been the case all things considered. Various shades of blues colored every surface and glistened in the light of the various bioluminescence they used to light the place up. Following the spider's directions, he made his way to an elevator that took him to the main throne room where Otohime waited. Entering the room, there were a number of small floating balls of light which upon closer inspection were a type of weird fish. Shaking it off, Roxas strode forward to the waiting queen and her guards.

Each of her guards stood by her side, in deep green battle kimonos that reminded him of seaweed with a lighter green sash tied around each of their waists. One had what looked like a sea anemone on her head while the other had coral. The woman sitting on the throne wore a regal pale blue kimono with dark blue on her torso and a red sash around her waist. Around her was a large wreath around her with a gold box like crown on her head. All of the women had extremely pale skin and dark black hair, though upon closer inspection showed that they had patched of incandescent scales on their shoulders and arms. Their most unique feature was that in place of ears they each had fin-like extensions where their ears would be, the queen's being notably larger than her guards.

Queen Otohime herself gave off an aura that was much different than the royals Roxas had met in the past. The Red Queen of Dark Wonderland had giving an aura of terrible, dark, twisted, yet controlled power, of someone who could and would kill you if the mood hit her. Damas in Spargus had the air of a warrior king, old but wise in the ways of war. Ashelin was definitely a royal who had belonged on the battlefield and front lines and had that military aura around at all times. Otohime however had an aura of a refined and gentle ruler, someone who would listen to her people and had a quiet strength to do what was needed. Roxas bowed in greeting which she returned. "Lord Roxas and Lady Kumotome, I am Queen Otohime, ruler of Dragonians. I welcome you to the Dragon Palace," she said with a calm smile on her face.

"Thank you milady. Kumotome informed me of what had happened after I passed out and what was going on with the Water Dragon. Hard to believe it was really your husband. Still with the Dragon Orb you should be able to take on the Dark Lord, especially now that I have his dark instrument, the Fox Rods, right?" he asked curiously.

The queen shook her head. "Sadly it is not that simple. After the first battle with my husband, both the Dark Lord and the fortress under its command vanished. Without the Fox Rods I assume he has been hiding in a lesser form somewhere trying to rebuild his strength. The Lord's stronghold on Oni Island appears and disappears each day and is never in the same place twice. Queen Himiko is divining its location as we speak, however the mist that covered Sei-An City blocks her sight. Until the mist is removed it will take some time for her to locate the stronghold if at all," she explained.

Roxas nodded and thought back to when he had been in the city. It would make sense for the Demon Lord to do so. Since it lost the Fox Rods it would need to hide to recover its power. If Queen Himiko could find its hiding place, then again it made sense to somehow blind her and that was the purpose for the mist, or at least part of it. The only confusing part was that he had seen the mist coming from somewhere inside the city, in the aristocratic quarter to be exact. Why had no one found its source yet and how in the world did it get in the middle of the city in the first place? Something didn't add up here. "In that case, I'd better get back to the city. I have an idea of where the mist is coming from. Once it's cleared we can work on invading the stronghold."

Otohime nodded. "Very well. Our emissary Orca is waiting just outside the palace and will take you back to the surface. I wish both of you luck in your endeavors," she said to both of them. Roxas nodded and left the Queen to head back up to the surface, the Fox Rods in his coat.

Once outside he saw two familiar forms walking towards him, Rao and Amaterasu. As soon as they saw him, Ammy barked and ran up to him, leaping up and licking him in the face with her tail wagging like there was no tomorrow. Roxas laughed at the sensation. "Okay, okay, enough already. It's good to see you too Ammy," he said with a smile as he wiped away the dog slobber.

Issun bounced up and down on top of the wolf's head. "Hey kid, good to see ya. You're looking good for someone who was eaten," he said, not bothering to ask the obvious question.

He sighed before speaking. "Tell me about it, that thing's breath was the second worse smell I've ever had to deal with. Long story short, the Water Dragon was the Dragonian king who went nuts after taking on the Demon Lord and swallowing his dark instrument. I was able to retrieve it with the help of Kumotome and now he's recovering, so the Water Dragon is no longer a problem. We need to head back to Sei-An City to clear out that mist. Once we do that, Queen Himiko will be able to locate the Demon Lord's stronghold and Otohime the Dragonian Queen will use the power of the Water Dragon to help us bust in," he explained.

The small artist bounced up and down in excitement. "Then we can go in and take that demon lord down. All right, let's head back to the city!" he crowed as they turned to get on Orca. It then occurred to him what the boy had said. "Wait, who's Kumotome?"

Said spider decided to make her appearance by crawling up from Roxas' back to his shoulder. "Hello again you miserable bug," she said haughtily. Rao blinked in confusion while Ammy stared in disbelief. Issun however got over his surprise quickly and unsheathed his sword in rage.

"Don't call me a bug! How are you here? What are you doing with Roxas?" he asked threateningly.

The white spider huffed disdainfully at the Poncle. "If you must know I reformed using the same power that the lesser Nobodies on the ship did and as to why I am with Roxas, that is simple. I did say that he could name his reward for freeing me and thus I will stay with him until I repay my debt," she explained calmly.

Rao raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side in thought. "If you reformed using the same power as those Nobodies, wouldn't that make you a Nobody as well?"

"Sort of," he replied. "She would be classified as a greater Nobody since she had more than just her soul to use to reform herself, despite not being back in full form."

The priestess nodded and decided to ask the question both she and Amaterasu had on their minds. "I also want to ask, are you a Nobody Roxas?" she asked tentatively, not wanting to upset the boy.

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise but he immediately calmed down. Given his explanation on the ship and the weird things he could do, he wasn't surprised that they figured it out. Deciding honesty was the best policy here, he started to explain. "Yeah I am," he said much to their shock. "I am what is called a greater Nobody, a soul that used the power of Nothingness and another element to completely reform their shell, though my personal case is a little unique," he said as he turned away from them, looking down at his hand in thought. "They … we … are different from lesser Nobodies in that we can replicate emotions from the memories we have leftover from when we were complete … at least at first," he said more to himself then to his companions.

They looked at him in curiosity, both from his explanation and the tone of his voice. Rao asked the question they were thinking. "What do you mean at first? Does something change?" she asked quietly.

He spoke quietly, as if unsure himself about what he was going to say. "I … I'm not sure. When I was first formed I joined a group of other greater Nobodies. I was told our purpose was to regain our hearts and become whole, but now I'm sure that was never true. In any case, I spent nearly a year with them and while my emotions grew, they were still muted and limited by what few memories I had. However, after I separated from them and went out on my own, meeting new people and such, my emotions have grown dramatically, I have grown. The only real explanation I can figure is that while I was in that group, there was a rule that we were not allowed to interact with normal people during our missions, only each other. After I left and started interacting with other people, people who still had hearts, that's when I started to change in more ways than one. The few memories from my Somebody show that I'm much different from him." He then turned to them with a cocky grin, "For one thing, I'm much better looking and not nearly as naïve as he is. In any case, we should get going; that mist needs to be taken care of." He turned and walked towards the dolphin-like Orca, not saying any more on the subject. Rao, Issun, and Amaterasu stared after him for a moment before following, trying to decide how they felt given his explanation. 

**Journal Entry 396**

**Greater Nobodies**

Up until recently I've never really considered the difference between lesser and greater Nobodies. Now though, the idea that it takes something extra to create a greater Nobody makes sense given what happened to Kumotome. Every greater Nobody that I've known has had access to Nothingness and a second element. The control over Darkness came from living next to the realm of Darkness. The only possible exceptions were myself, Xion, and Xenmas. Xenmas was a cold, logical bastard so maybe his soul simply attracted more Nothingness to it. Xion was originally a … puppet … made to contain Sora's memories and power so that explains her. Me … I was Sora's Nobody and he had a close connection to Light, so that explains that.

There is one thing that been starting to bug me though. If souls use Nothingness and a second element related to the original personality to recreate their shells to become greater Nobodies that are like what they once were, why don't I look or act like Sora? Why didn't I have his memories when I formed? Why am I so different? Was I formed differently like Kumotome was? This is something I'm going to have to look into later.

AN: Another chapter that took on a strange life of its own and went longer than I thought it would. In any case, what I put in here about greater Nobodies makes sense to me as far as I can tell from the games. This also sets up the return to the city and more of what's to come. Again I ask those who have played Okami not to reveal anything as I have a few interesting ideas for this arc that are going to be fun to write. In case anyone is wondering why the king lived instead of dying like he did in the game, the reason is in the original game Amaterasu had to basically tear a hole in the Water Dragon's intestines and use the stomach acid to release the Dragon orb and then fight the kitsune spirits for the Fox Rods all in the Water Dragon's stomach. Roxas on the other hand did not tear open a hole or fight the kitsune and the Dragon Orb was removed much more gently thanks to Kumotome.


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 26: Day 398: Menacing Mists and Mysterious Moon Maidens

The odd group made up of a priestess, a wolf sun goddess, a Poncle, a reformed spider demoness, and a greater Nobody entered Sei-An City. Immediately they saw that things had worsened greatly during their time away. The putrid green mist was now thicker than ever with many of the city's citizens now on the ground looking like they were inches from death with an equal number having not made it. So far it was mostly the elderly and those who had been sick before the mist descended on them that had fallen. It was obvious that they had to shut down that mist soon or else Sei-An would become a city of the dead.

They went back to Rao's office to plan what to do next. Roxas sighed as he crossed his arms in thought. "We have to find the source of that mist and shut if off soon. The problem is that I don't think the people here will last much longer. We're running out of time," he stated as he started to pace.

Rao looked at him in thought, still mentally going over what he had told them back at the Dragon Palace. While she had not considered it before, it made sense that the Dark Ones, the Heartless as he had called them, had counterparts. It was then she remembered something else he had mentioned. "Wait Roxas, you said you recovered the Dark Lord's instrument from the Water Dragon, do you have it with you?" He nodded and brought out the bundle of multicolored bamboo, the Fox Rods. "I have an idea; I can take these to the Queen and use them to at least delay the mist. While I do that, you, Amaterasu, Kumotome, and Issun can search the Aristocratic quarter for the source of the mist," she suggested, gazing at the item she had been searching after for some time.

"I like that idea, we're going to need all the time we can get in order to take down that mist," Issun piped up in agreement.

"Perhaps," Kumotome said calmly before turning to Rao. "However, are you sure you can control a demonic artifact of this caliber? The Fox Rods are ancient and more importantly they are alive with the spirits of past kitsune. If you are not careful they will corrupt you just as they did the Water Dragon," the spider warned.

The priestess nodded. "Yes, I'm sure I can. I have great experience in dealing with artifacts of power such as these," she stated confidently.

Roxas wasn't sure so he turned to the last member of their group. "What do you think Ammy? Should we go with her plan?" he asked the wolf goddess. She barked and nudged the Fox Rods towards the priestess. "Alright Ammy, if you think it's a good idea we'll go with it." He then turned to the priestess. "We'll search the Aristocratic quarter for the source of the mist while you try to hold back the mist as much as possible. Come on Ammy, let's go," he said while heading out the back towards where all the nobles resided.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

As they exited the office, something emerged from Amaterasu's item pouch. The Lucky Mallet that they had obtained from the cursed ship was now bouncing up and down in front of them. Roxas just stared at the item as if it was possessed, which considering he had gotten it in a cursed ship full of restless souls it might have been. Issun spoke up; surprised as well at what it was doing. "The mallet jumped up by itself! I hate to see treasure run off like that! After it!" he cried as they took off through the barren streets.

As they did Roxas glanced at Kumotome. "What's going on, since when do items have a mind of their own?" he asked while running after the wolf and mallet as fast as he could.

"All mystical items want to be used Roxas and as a result some develop partial sentience. This allows them to maneuver themselves into situations in which they will be used. It doesn't matter to them if they're used for good or evil as long as they are used for what they were created for. It seems this Lucky Mallet is one such item and in this case it is guiding us to place where we will want to use its shrinking ability. I would not be surprised if your Keyblades were similar," the spider said as they came to a very ornamental gate that led to a walled off compound. The thing about the gate though, was that a literal torrent of poison mist was coming out of it. Looking above, he saw the geyser of green mist he had seen earlier. It was coming out of someplace in the compound.

'This doesn't make sense,' he thought to himself. 'The source of the mist is right here but no one has done anything about it. What is going on here?' He ran after the red and white wolf that was following the crazed treasure. They passed the first gate and followed the mallet off to the side of the second gate leading into the compound. The guards took little notice of them due to the concentration of green mist in the area.

They finally cornered the bouncing hammer next to a wall that had a large crack in it. Issun was bouncing up and down excitedly as the mallet bounced next to the crack. "Now we got you cornered you … you … mallet! No treasure's ever escaped from the great Issun! I'm gonna sell ya to some greedy merchant, and …"

Before he could continue, he was interrupted by Kumotome scoffing at him. "Leave it to the insect to only think of selling such a rare and useful item, especially when it is trying to help us," she said snidely, obviously not that impressed with the Poncle.

"Don't call me an insect!" he yelled back at her.

"She has a point though Issun," Roxas said as he kneeled to inspect the crack in the wall. "That mist is coming from inside this compound and I doubt the guards will let us in to see what the source is. This hole is our ticket in to find it. The mallet can shrink us and we can infiltrate the place." He then turned to his canine companion. "What do you say Ammy, ready to get hammered?" he said with a grin, unable to resist the joke. Ammy just seemed to chuckle for a moment before giving a small bark of agreement. Smiling, he turned towards the mallet that seemed to be waiting for them. "Okay mallet, do your thing," he said to it though he felt really odd talking to an object.

The Lucky Mallet gave another bounce as if to say "yes sir" before floating above and started to motion as if it were literally hammering them. With each swing the mallet gave off a gentle wave of magic and immediately the two of them began to shrink in size. In a few short swings the two of them were shrunk smaller than a mouse. Roxas himself stretched, getting used to being shrunk again. It was always weird no matter how it was done, but this was certainly a much more pleasant way than drinking a potion each time. It usually took him a whole ice cream bar to get that funky taste out of his mouth after each mission to Light Wonderland with Luxord. The potions in Dark Wonderland along with the toadstool were both just nasty. Ammy on the other hand was looking around in a curious awe at how everything seemed so different at this smaller size. He couldn't blame her; he did the same thing the first time he was shrunk. She was broken out of it however by a familiar voice.

"Aha ha ha ha ha ha! You should see the look on your face!" They both turned to see another little person in a blue outfit a green cape and hat that sported two insect like antennae. "A few shakes of that Lucky Mallet reduced things to my size. It's not for clobbering people or anything silly. Boy, I'll never get tired of messing with your head!" the new guy said with his hands behind his head, looking at Amaterasu with a smug expression before turning towards Roxas. "You don't seem so surprised at this," he commented curiously.

"Not the first time I've been shrunk," he stated simply, causing the guy to raise an eyebrow in question. It was pretty easy to deduce who this guy was from the voice and the hat. Roxas gave a smirk of his own. "In any case Issun, we have to find the source of that mist."

"Indeed," a female voice agreed with him. Turning they saw Kumotome towering above them. In terms of height ratio, it was the same as when Amaterasu had first met up with her back in Tsuta Ruins and could easily hold the wolf with just one of her appendages. At this close of range it was easier to see both her human aspects and spider aspects at the same time. "We must be careful though. If the guards find us like this then there will be very little we can do about it," the spider cautioned, knowing the trials that smaller spiders faced every day.

Roxas nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I've seen what it looks like to get stepped on by someone at this size. Not pretty. Still, the mist is so thick here that it's hiding us from the guards. As long as we don't attract their attention we should be fine," he said calmly. The others agreed and they started to make their way through the garden. Pass through the grass they came to a small archway where a strange looking spider was watching them. It was about a fifth of the size of Kumotome, all black, with spikes on its thorax and its main body looking like a demon's face with the face's eyes being two of the spider's eight eyes and the spider's mandibles acting as the demon head's horns. "What is that?" Roxas said pointing towards it, knowing it was not an ordinary spider.

Kumotome, once spider royalty, knew what it was immediately. "It is a minor demon spider known as a Blocking Spider. Most demons use them to maintain barriers of various kinds or to keep watch over certain areas. They are nonaggressive and will not attack but are impervious to most kinds of attacks themselves, making them excellent guards," she explained. They tentatively passed the spider and continued on, though they could feel its eyes on all of them.

They came to a koi pond with several stones acting as a bridge across. Amaterasu, Issun, and Roxas were able to jump across while Kumotome easily walked across due to her larger size. As they crossed, they heard a soft weeping sound. Looking up towards the source, Issun stopped on the center stone. "What's that? Sounds like someone is crying." Looking up they saw a jail cell normally used to temporarily hold prisoners before being escorted to a more secure facility. Inside was a shadowed form, most likely of a woman due to her body shape, with her back turned towards them.

Roxas shook his head. Figures Issun would stop for a woman. "We need to keep moving. If she draws attention and the guards see us we're dead. Let's go," he said, waving them all to keep moving. Kumotome nodded and continued on while Ammy took a long look at the girl before joining them. Moving on they came to the edge of the garden where there was a hole in the wall. Looking out they saw several guards walking up and down the stone path. "We can't go this way. It's way too open with no cover. We'd be easy targets, especially Kumotome given her size and unusual appearance," Roxas stated while gazing out into the open area, his mind going back to Dark Wonderland. He could still see the giant foot of the Mad Hatter coming down on the White Rabbit with a loud thud and sickening crunch followed by the Hatter rubbing the remains into the ground for good measure. The carnage was sickening and even worse was having to comfort Alice and force them to keep moving at the time lest they join his fate. True the Rabbit had been restored, but the memory remained. If any of his allies got flattened here, he doubted there would be a way to bring them back.

"No loss there," Issun muttered, not liking having the former demoness with them.

The white and green spider heard him and snarled at the Poncle. "Watch your mouth insect unless you wish me to bite your useless head off!" she snarled, mandibles shaking in anger.

The Poncle drew his sword Denkomaru and pointed it at the much larger arachnid. "Just try it eight eyes and slice you to bits!" he countered.

"Would you two knock it off?" Roxas interrupted along with Ammy barking at them. "We don't have time for this. Let's head back and see if we can find another way around to the main house," he said as they turned and head back over the pond. However this time, the crying stopped as the woman in the cell turned around. "Crap, busted," Roxas muttered.

"Hello? Is someone there?" a gentle voice asked. The woman was dressed in an odd outfit. She had a light pink kimono with a long white skirt which had images of the moon and what looked like a rocket ship on it … or possibly a really weird bamboo shoot. Around the woman's torso was what looked like a large bamboo shoot with part of it curing up behind her. Around her head was a strange bubble, making it look like a space suit almost. "Are you mallet bearers? It's hard to see from here," she said from the darkened cell.

"Mallet bearers?" Issun said in a confused voice. "What are you talking about?" he said out loud. Roxas just wanted to smack him for giving away their position with the guards so close. Was he trying to get them squished?

"Oh," she said surprised. "Who are you?" she asked looking down at them through the mist.

Issun stuttered for a moment. "Oh, uh … just a couple of passersby. Are you that girl we heard crying earlier?" he said speaking up. This time Roxas did smack him in the back of the head and right into the rock they were standing on.

"Issun are you trying to get us killed? If she catches the guards' attention we're dead. So be quiet," he hissed at the Poncle.

The girl seemed to realize they were hiding and bent down closer to the bars, lowering to voice as she did so. "That is all right, I won't call the guards," she said causing them all to look at her in confusion and getting a good look at her face. She was beautiful with a gentle smile and soft light blue eyes like stars. Her skin was pale as the moon and was flawless. The thing that made her stand out however from anyone else Roxas had seen in this world was that she had long, blonde hair. Everyone else had had met so far had black hair, so this was new. One last unique feature was that she had two long leaves sticking out the top of her head and through the dome surrounding it that was attached to the bamboo suit. For some reason it made Roxas think of a rabbit and made her look quite cute in his opinion. "I am Kaguya, pleased to meet you," she said bowing a little.

Predictably Issun stared at her slack jawed. "Another babe," he slurred.

Roxas shook his head and smacked him again. "Please ignore him ma'am, he tends to not think before speaking," the Nobody said politely. "My name is Roxas, this in Amaterasu, Kumotome, and the drooling idiot is Issun," he said motioning to each of them. "So can you tell us why you are locked up?" he asked calmly.

The woman sighed. "I'm not sure myself. I originally came to Sei-An city to sell some of my grandfather's bamboo ware. But the Emperor who lives here heard about a treasure I possess and had me arrested. Before he could try and take it from me he fell ill and I've been in here since," she explained.

Issun seemed to perk up at her story. "Your grandfather's bamboo ware? Is you grandpa that Mr. Bamboo back in Kusa Village?" he asked curiously.

The moonlight beauty Kaguya seemed a little surprised at his question. "You know my grandfather? Yes he did raise me in Kusa Village. Unfortunately I cannot tell you more, I don't know who I really am or where I came from," she said sadly.

The Nobody sympathized with the girl as he too knew what it was like to not know one's origins. He could still remember his frustration in the Organization when things happened to him and Xion but no one offered any answers. He sighed and gently spoke up again, "I promise we'll get you out of there, but first we need to deal with this green mist that's making everyone sick. Can you tell us anything about it and why you don't seem affected?"

The girl smiled down at them before speaking. "I would be grateful if you can free me. As for the mist, this strange bamboo I wear protects me from many things, especially anything related to demons oddly enough. I've had it since I was a child and it has strangely grown with me. The mist itself started at the same time the Emperor took ill. The guards were told that he refused to see any doctors and have left him since. Before he became completely bed ridden, he buried something in the corner of the garden. He seemed desperate to hide it before he became too ill. Once it was buried the illness worsened and he could not leave his bed. I hope that helps you," she said kindly.

Roxas nodded, though he doubted she could see him. "It might. We'll take a look in that area and see what we find."

The Poncle spoke up at that point, coming out of his beauty induced trance. "Yeah, don't you worry honey pie; we'll get you out of there. The great Issun's gonna straighten out that mean old Emperor. Then I'll come back and set you free!" he said proudly while striking a pose. Roxas face palmed, Ammy seemed to chuckle, and Kumotome just snorted at the miniscule artist.

Kaguya seemed startled by his declaration and stuttered in surprise. "No, I … um …" she said confused. While she did want to be free, she didn't want someone to lose their life attempting to grant her freedom.

Issun spoke up again, stopping any protests. "Don't sweat it sweetie! You just sit tight! We're gonna search every nook and cranny of this palace. And I'm gonna give that Emperor a piece of my mind when we find him!" he declared.

"Be careful, you don't have much to spare," the spider Nobody quipped, interrupting Issun's tirade much to Roxas', Ammy's, and the moon girl's amusement.

"Shut it!" he replied angrily while Ammy was laughing harder now with Roxas chuckling himself.

"In any case," the greater Nobody said before the two could get into another argument, "we'll search the garden and try to see what's going on with the Emperor. Just sit tight and keep a look out for anything odd. It may be important later." The blonde girl nodded in agreement as the group turned to investigate the area they had passed earlier. Moving past the blocking spider which was still watching them closely, they came to an area where the dirt looked recently moved. Using one of her Cherry Bombs, Amaterasu opened a hole into the ground below. Kumotome was unable to go below due to her size and instead opted to guard the entrance.

Once below they could see a number of spiders similar to the Blocking Spider they had seen earlier. These were different however in that their abdomens were flattened and bowl-like. They actually seemed less menacing then the Blocking Spider. Issun explained as they walked past them. "Those funny-looking things are Platform Spiders. They're minor spider demons like the Blocking Spider. They usually just go back and forth on their webs all day and are pretty harmless. The only thing is with some of them if you stay on their backs too long they'll get annoyed and try to throw you off. If they're here though that means the treasure has got to be something really good," he said with a glint in his eye.

The group made their way to the base of the box containing the treasure the Emperor hid. Using another Cherry Bomb to blow open a hole in a weakened portion of the box, they entered to find … a flask? It was an hour-glass shaped flask hanging from the top. All of them stared at the gourd in confusion. "That's the treasure?" Issun asked confused. However, before he could comment further, a Blocking Spider lowered over the hole they had made. It was twitching badly and clearly agitated with their proximity to the exit. "Great, now we're stuck here," he griped.

Roxas sighed. "We'll deal with that later. Right now let's see what's up with that flask by cutting it down," he said reasonably. No sooner had he said it then a flash of black ink in the form of a sharp line appeared. It lasted only for a split second before the rope was cut and the flask fell to the floor. He looked to his lupine companion who seemed to have a smirk on her muzzle. "What was that?"

The Poncle just chuckled. "That's was Ammy's Power Slash Brush technique. Can slash through just about anything and has a ton of uses. But enough about that, let's see what's inside that flask that's so important." The three entered the tipped over flask. Inside the flask were a strange liquid and a even stranger mist. The light purple, almost white mist inside the flask was very different from the toxic green mist outside. While that mist was oppressive and corrosive, this mist was calm, comforting, like the mist one would feel on a serene early Autumn morning only exceedingly thicker. "There's a mist inside here too? It feels different from the mist outside though," he stated curiously.

Roxas didn't listen to him as the Chaos Tear reacted. Pulling it out, he could see the Light and Void gems flaring and the center crystal showing different symbols. Quickly translating them with Compass, the Tear was flashing the symbols for divine, mist, sheep, and … sake? Confused, the Nobody turned to his companions. "We need to get this mist outside, any ideas?" he asked curiously. His only warning was a grin on Ammy's muzzle before there was another flash of divine ink, this time in the form of a spiral, causing a powerful gust of wind to shoot through the flask, launching them all out it along with the strange mist. Roxas landed flat on his ass and turned to look at the wolf and Poncle who had also been knocked down. "You get a kick out of surprising people don't you?" he asked the canine rhetorically. She only barked back at him, tail wagging. Before he could respond, a strange light was shining above them in the box. "Now what?"

Issun was surprised at what he was seeing. "It's that starlight again. What's it doing here?" he exclaimed in shock. Roxas watched in curiosity as a patch of night sky appeared inside the treasure chest they were in. The sky itself held a few stars but nothing else. Around the stars was a silhouette of some creature though he couldn't tell what. It also looked like it was missing a few stars. Not missing a beat, he watched as Amaterasu's tail moved like an artist's crush and painted in the missing stars. Once the stars were in place, the outline flashed and filled in, revealing a new brush god.

The constellation revealed the image of a sheep. Its coloring was identical to Amaterasu's in that it was snow white with red markings. On the creature's back was a massive gourde from which it took a long drink and then let out a satisfied breath. Judging from the smell, Roxas would say that was some strong alcohol given that the sheep was trying to stand up but was very unsteady even in the celestial realm they were now in. Issun had told the Nobody about these brush gods and their apparent power, but looking at this one just reminded him of Daxter when he went on one of his binges. Before anyone could say anything, four large demon blades appeared in the sacred realm, all aimed at the sheep. Probably a booby trap just in case someone found the lost brush god.

The Greater Nobody got ready to move to defend the sheep when it took another heavy swig from the gourde on its back and let out a loud bleat, breathing out a massive amount of the mist they had encountered in the flask. Immediately, everything caught in the mist seemed to slow down except for the sheep itself, as if time itself was now drunk. The four demon blades slowed to a crawl as the sheep jumped up and intercepted them. It kicked away three of them and head butted the fourth, all without a scratch, though it did land on its face once it was done. It got back up again and gave a respectfully bow, though it was still swaying from side to side. Roxas was now seriously suspecting he was in part of Dark Wonderland. How else would you explain finding a celestial sheep underground that was drunk off its ass, could apparently manipulate time, and knew Drunken Fist, or hoof in this case, fighting? Before he could ponder it further the sheep began speaking.

Its voice was light and calm, much like the mist it … he commanded. "Ah Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all. After our separation, I took to wandering the corners of the Earth. Before long, I was sealed away here by a sinister power. Your arrival has broken that seal. Now I, Kasugami, grant you the power of mist. Glisten over all creation like fleeting dew!" he intoned. Energy gather around the sheep before it flashed, becoming an orb of energy with the kanji for seclusion. The orb whirled around the sun goddess once before flying into her and merging its power with hers. In a flash of light the celestial realm was gone and the three were back in the treasure chest again.

Roxas shook his head to clear it, not quite sure what he had just seen and experienced. "That was … trippy. So that's why the Emperor hid that flask here. It had a god sealed in it," he stated. It made sense when he thought about it. With his growing illness, the Emperor probably wanted to make sure the flask containing the lost god was secure somewhere since he himself would be unable to protect it and probably didn't trust anyone else with it.

Issun nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Kasugami, the god of mist. Legends say he can wrap the world in a thick mist that slows down time for all things. I really did feel like I was in a dream world with no sense of time." He then shook his head to clear it. "But enough about that. That is one awesome power you just got back Ammy. With just one stroke you can slow down any monster, no matter what it is. We can use it to get past that spider blocking our exit," he said pointing to the demon spider now above the hole they had made, watching them intensely.

Two horizontal lines of sacred ink appeared in mid air for a split second before the entire area was covered in a thick, light-purple colored mist. Despite this, Roxas, Amaterasu, and Issun could see clearly through it and could see the affect it had on the spider. It was still twitching, but now it was moving at a snail's pace compared to what it was before. Seeing that the mist was dissipating quickly, the group ran forward and through the hole and back outside. However, as soon as they were through they were ambushed.

In front of them appeared what looked like a circular palm mirror with a strange green mist clinging to it along with several Giga Shadows. On the mirror's glass was the image of an angry old man who glared at them. "What is that thing?" Roxas asked as he summoned Two Become One and Rejection of Fate. Amaterasu just growled while she and Issun readied to take on the Heartless. The image of the old man inside the demon mirror snarled at him and started to rotate like a wheel, moving incredible fast as it did so. It moved in a circle, leaving a trail of putrid green mist as it did so. Amaterasu and Issun had jumped away before it could hit. Roxas stood in place, activating Stand Firm as the whirling mirror came at him, seemingly targeting him for some reason. It rammed right into him, but stopped with a loud clang, as if hitting a solid steel wall. This just seemed to enrage the creature more as it spun faster and faster, trying to knock Roxas down. While the Keyblade wielder could stand up to the force the demon mirror was pushing on him, he couldn't take the acidic mist surrounding it for long.

Meanwhile the Poncle and the sun goddess were busy with the giant Shadow Heartless they were up against. While they weren't that fast, their habit of going two-dimensional was an annoyance to both of them. Once they rose up from the floor however, they were able to take them down quickly with divine instrument Seven-Strike and Denkomaru respectively before turning to Roxas who was still holding up against the mirror demon.

Amaterasu, seeing her friend's state, used the Veil of Mist brush technique once again. The effect was immediate as the mirror slowed to a crawl just as the spider had. In addition, the mist surrounding it had dissipated and left the demon vulnerable. Seeing his chance, Roxas pushed back hard, sending the possessed mirror flying. Still moving slow from the effect of the Mist, Roxas charge up Two Become One and hit it with Chaos Blades, shattering the mirror and dispelling the demon. Once it was gone, Issun answered Roxas' question. "That was a Wind Doom Mirror. It normally summons winds to make a mess of everything. Some say that it's actually a guardian spirit that wants to change the ways of lazy youth," he explained then chuckled. "Guess it didn't like you just standing there." Roxas just snorted at him.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

They made their way out of the hole and met up with Kumotome who was waiting for them. "What did you find down there?" she asked as they made their way back towards the caged moon maiden.

"Apparently the Emperor had one of the brush gods trapped down there, specifically Kasugami the god of mist," Roxas explained.

The spider clicked her mandibles in thought. "That is interesting. I knew the brush gods were scattered after Shiranui passed away long ago, but to have that specific god trapped in the city besieged by poison mist is too much of a coincidence," the spider Nobody thought out loud.

"What are you talking about?" the Poncle asked confused.

Roxas shook his head as he explained. "Think about it Issun. This city is being plagued by a poison mist and we just happen to find the brush god of mist so close to the source? Plus if the source is anything like that Wind Doom Mirror, then this god's power is the best thing to counter it. Doesn't that seem a little convenient to you?" he asked calmly.

The Poncle tilted his head to the side as he cross his arms in thought. "Now that you mention it, it does seem odd that the demons would keep a brush god in the middle of a city like this. I mean we found one brush god in Orochi's cave when we took that multi-headed worm down that was there as a prisoner, so that makes sense. But to have one here in the city where anyone could find him does seem kind of odd," he said quietly. He then turned to the boy as they stopped just before the stone path where the guards were. "So what, you ink someone wanted us to find Kasugami?" he asked curiously.

The Nobody surveyed the area as he answered the artist. "I think there's more going on to all of this then we know. There's something about your travels from before we met up that is just bothering me, but I can't figure out what," he said before shaking his head. "In any case, Ammy, we'll need you to do the mist technique. With everything slowed down we'll be able to get past the guards and into the main house." The wolf nodded and made ready to use her new ability once more.

A flash of ink and the sacred mist appeared, slowing down the movements of all but those four. Moving quickly, the group made their way towards the main house, avoiding detection from the guards thanks to the mist. Once they got to the door they saw the Emperor through a screen hanging in the room lying in bed and asleep, his face was very pale and sickly, as a geyser of green mist continued to poor out of his mouth. "That's the Emperor!?" Issun exclaimed. "I heard he was sick in bed but I never thought he would be the source of that funky mist."

"It makes sense though," Roxas stated as he looked around the room. "By refusing to see anyone or any doctors, nobody is able to do anything about the source of the mist for fear of upsetting the Emperor."

Issun just snorted. "We don't have that problem. So how do we get over there? We're still too big to get past that mosquito net of his," he stated.

Kumotome looked the area over and then back at her companions before sighing dejectedly. "Climb on, I will carry us up to the rafters and we can go over the net." The three gave her a curious look, surprised by the offer. "As much as I detest the thought of the bug on my back, we cannot waste time with such a minor obstacle. If we do not hurry the demon mist will consume the city and its people will perish." They agreed and reluctantly got onto her back. Making her way to the wall, the spider Nobody started her assent. As they got closer to the ceiling, they could see a number of Blocking Spiders in the area, most of them keeping watch on the Emperor and the mist he was creating.

Once they reached the top, they could see the Emperor snoring away with a geyser of thick, sickly green mist coming from his wide open mouth. Issun whistled at the sight. "Wow look at that. Who would have thought all this mist was coming from him. Well, let's jump on in and get this guy straightened out," he said motioning to where the mist was coming from.

Roxas turned sharply to the tiny artist and scowled. "Are you kidding me? I did not get barfed up by one king only to jump down the throat of another," he argued as he looked at the geyser of putrid mist coming out of the Emperor's mouth, looking a little sick himself. The smell alone could give Haven City sewers a run for its money.

Issun sighed, "We don't have a choice. The source of the mist is inside the Emperor and the only way we can stop it without really hurting him is by going inside."

The Keyblade wielder sighed in defeat. "Fine, but we are not going down there without a lifeline. I do not want to be this guy's dinner. Kumotome, do you think you could lower us down with some spider thread?" he asked their arachnid companion.

The spider Nobody nodded. "It would be simple enough."

"Good. Give us each a line and we'll go inside. If something happens out here that will put us or the Emperor in danger, yank us out as quickly as possible. If you feel three sharp tugs, do the same. Sound good?" he asked her. She nodded and produced three strands of spider silk. Each of them took hold of one strand and lowered themselves down into the mouth of the Emperor.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Once inside the Emperor's throat, the stench of the toxic mist was intense. It took a lot of will power from all of them not to pass out. Inside the throat it reminded Roxas of the inner sanctum of the Queen of Hearts, red flesh surrounding them everywhere, pulsing with a constant heartbeat. Once they got themselves oriented they started down into the body of the Emperor, the spider silk threads trailing behind them. They eventually got to the main stomach and made a weird discovery.

The open area that was the Emperor's stomach was dark with barely any light from outside through the flesh. However, what they did see chilled them to the bone. In the center of the "room" was a ghostly blue light that stood out in the darkness. Above the light was a massive, dense cloud of green toxic mist that swirled around as if it was a miniature storm despite the fact that there was no air flow in this place. All three of them tensed up at the feeling of being watched with Roxas summoning his Keyblades as he took a closer look at the light in the center of the room. "This is insane!" Issun exclaimed. "That mist … its alive!"

The green mist seemed to respond to the proclamation as it swirled like a tornado and converged on the blue light which turned out to be a sword; a really old katana with a handle wrapped in a strange gray colored rosary that extended and curled around the gold guard and lower part of the blade. The thing that stood out most was the blade itself was covered and caked with dried blood to the point where the metal of the blade could not be seen. It was as if the blade was made of dried blood. The mist seemed to solidify into a figure. A suit of worn samurai armor with no actual body in it formed out of the mist. The suit was a dull green with a green jagged crest on the helm and had numerous swords stabbed through its torso from the font with the blades sticking out the back of it. The figure, oozing green mist, pulled the glowing blue sword from the floor of flesh and held the blade in front of it in the ready position.

The creature spoke in a dark, twisted voice, as if manipulating the wind to speak for it. "Under my control, this body breathes evil mist over the city. And you mutt and boy … you attempt to clear the skies of my poison!?" The suit then gave the impression of a twisted grin despite having to face. "Waging battle with me inside a human body will be no easy task. Even now, Goldnail, the mighty sword cries out for your blood!" It then formed a second sword out mist and held them both in front of it, ready to fight. "Come! Step forward so that I, the indomitable Blight, may cut you down!" the mist demon challenged.

Wanting this guy to shut up, Issun leapt into the air and came down with an overhead slash, knocking the demon down though it still held the glowing sword, Goldnail, ready. "Heh heh, I'll step forward all right! You're some piece of work Blight! Better say your prayers!" Issun mocked with a grin.

Blight seemed to snarl as it got up. "You uncultured wretch!" It then seemed to grin again. "Be warned. We are in the very bowels of the Emperor. If we fight here, his body will not survive," he intoned.

It was now Roxas' turn to grin. "You have a point there gas bag, so let's take this outside," The Nobody said before holding his breath, rushing forward, grabbing the demon, and giving three sharp tugs to the line connecting him to the spider waiting outside. Immediately Issun, Ammy, Roxas, and the outraged demon he was holding onto were all violently yanked out of the stomach of the Emperor.

**-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-**

Kumotome waited patiently in the rafters watching the Emperor, keeping the three lifelines taught enough that she would feel a tug but no more than that. At one time she would've had reservations about working against her demonic kin, but it was different now. For starters she wasn't a true demon anymore. She was a Nobody like Roxas and more importantly she owed the boy a great deal. If he hadn't helped her soul in that cursed ship she would've been a prisoner for that Heartless and would've eventually faded away into Nothingness.

She was broken out of her thoughts when she saw the mist coming out of the Emperor's mouth stop. 'This is either a really good thing or a really bad thing,' she thought to herself as she watched the sick human's form intensely. She got her answer when she felt three sharp pulls on one of the lines leading into his mouth, specifically the line attached to Roxas. Reacting quickly, she jumped down off the rafter and used it like a pulley, causing the threads to pull the ones connected to them out of the Emperor quickly. What came out was somewhat of a surprise. Instead of three beings it was four. Amaterasu, the annoying bug, Roxas, and a fourth figure that the spider could only assume was the one responsible for the mist.

The group crashed to the side of the Emperor's bed, a relatively small open area though to beings of their size it may as well have been a football field. They got up with Blight shaking in rage as he seemingly glared at them, specifically Roxas who wore a smug expression. "You worthless child! How dare you do this to me! You are nothing to me … a nobody!" the mist demon raged at him.

Roxas just smirked and summoned Two Become One and Rejection of Fate. "You have no idea how right you are gas bag," he said confidently at the private joke.

Shaking in rage, the demon turned to the Emperor who was now sleeping soundly, a little color returning to his face now that the demon in question was no longer inside him. Blight disappeared in a flash and was on top of his chest, moving towards his mouth to reenter the body, take control, and squash these pests. Before Ammy, Issun, or Roxas could move to stop him, Kumotome dropped down from above and landed over the ruler's mouth, blocking the entrance and causing Blight to jump back in surprise. "You shall not pass!" the spider Nobody intoned before launching several energy spheres at the demon armor, knocking him off the Emperor and towards Amaterasu and company.

Deciding not to waste words, Roxas went forward and locked blades with the demon. Sparks flew as the blades clashed against each other, Keyblades against demon blades. Neither could get a hit as their movements became faster and faster. Roxas, seeing that he couldn't keep up with the demon's speed, twisted his Keyblades and snagged Blight's blades with the teeth of the keys, holding them in place. "Ammy, Issun, attack now!" he cried out. The Poncle and sun goddess obliged and attacked the decayed armor with their swords. Issun's Denkomaru and Amaterasu's Seven-Strike struck the demon, knocking back a good ways. However, the creature got up again and any damage done to the armor was instantly repaired. "What the hell?" he exclaimed surprised. No way should he have been able to shrug off an attack like that.

Blight just laughed at the boy's expression. "Your efforts are futile boy. Goldnail will bath in your blood before this day ends!" the demon intoned. He readied his blades and flashed again. Roxas didn't have time to react as he was slashed by the demon that also knocked away both Ammy and Issun.

Roxas rolled to the side and watched as Blight summoned eight swords circling around him, one of which was Goldnail. The blades came right the three fighters. Two against Issun and three each against the other two with Goldnail itself chasing after Roxas. He used the Fleet foot technique to barely dodge the blades and when he dodged the blood covered sword he instinctively lashed out at it with Two Become One. The result shocked him as both the katana itself and Blight screamed in pain. It then hit him just what was going on here, remembering what Kumotome said earlier about magical objects. He yelled at his companions, "Ignore Blight, it's just an extension of Goldnail. Go after the sword itself!"

The mist demon snarled at the Nobody for revealing what he truly was. "I rend you limb from limb boy for this outrage!" it yelled before flashing forward at Roxas. Using Flash Rush, he met Blight with equal force, Goldnail meeting Two Become One head one. The two disappeared again, reappearing several meters (relative to their size, not actual meters) to the side, swords still clashing. Another flash and the two were now behind Ammy and Issun who watched along with Kumotome in shock at what they were seeing. Again a flash and the two were locked in combat at another location. This happened several more times with Roxas barely able to keep up with the mist demon. "Ammy, I can't get a clean hit! Slow this thing down!" he yelled out.

Amaterasu barked loudly and used the Veil of Mist technique. Immediately Blight slowed down as the sacred mist canceled out the poison mist surrounding his body. Seeing his chance, the Keyblade wielder spun and struck with his Duel Stance move, causing the bodiless armor to crash to the ground and the sword Goldnail to go flying off and sticking in the floor. Seeing their chance, Issun and the sun goddess attacked the blade, doing as much damage as possible. It screamed in pain as chunks of its metal were torn off. After a good amount of damage was done, the cursed sword flared out with demonic mist, pushing them away before flying back to Blight and reviving it.

Snarling in rage, Blight summoned multiple swords again. They spun around him at high speeds at first but again Amaterasu summoned the sacred mist, slowing the demon's actions to a crawl. Seeing which of the swords the real Goldnail was, he raised Rejection of Fate and cast Thundaga, hitting the possessed sword with a massive bolt of lightning. While it may have possessed massive amounts of youkai, it was still a sword, and thus still a piece of metal. The electricity ran through the blade with ease, stunning both it and the mist demon. The sword flew off and landed in the ground again, swaying slightly from the shock. Seeing their chance, the three of them attacked. Issun struck first, hitting the demon sword with Denkomaru. Roxas followed up with his Duel Stance strike. Immediately after that Amaterasu hit Goldnail with a Power Slash, breaking the demon blade.

Blight the poison mist demon writhed in agony as its life source was destroyed. The green mist around its body imploded and dissipated into thin air. However, from the remains of Goldnail rose a black twisted mass, a dark spirit representing the pain and hate of the sword, rose up and seemed to snarl at them. Its ghostly, pale blue eyes glared at them as it seeped through the roof and into the sky. From there it shot off into the horizon, as if it were being drawn somewhere. Roxas narrowed his eyes at the sight, remembering what Kumotome said before where she had been defeated by Amaterasu. Her essence had been taken by something, leaving her human soul and a few scraps of youkai behind. They would have to track where that essence was going later. Right now they needed to see to the Emperor and the city.

Before they could do so however, something else rose from the remains of Goldnail. It rose up like a chain and snaked in a complex pattern in mid air, the beads growing in size, before shooting towards Amaterasu. The chain turned out to be the rosary he had seen on the blade earlier, though it was no longer gray, but a beautiful light jade and dark emerald. The beads of the rosary were shaped like half of a yin-yang symbol. Each bead had either a light green jade or a dark green emerald with the other outlining it. The beads were strung along a strange thread that glowed with an ethereal light. The rosary wrapped itself around the sun goddess's neck but did not actually touch her. It then started to circle around her neck with the beads making yin-yang symbols as they did so. "What is that?" Roxas asked confused.

Issun was only too happy to explain. "It's a divine instrument, a Rosary called the Exorcism Beads. They are imbued with the holy light of purity, and bring a righteous chastening upon enemies through its cleansing powers."

Roxas looked at the beads that had taken the place of Seven Strike on Amaterasu and then at the remains of Goldnail. "Exorcism Beads," he said quietly to himself before turning back to them. "If those beads prevent possession, what were they doing on that sword? How could it have possessed the Emperor with those beads wrapped around it?" he asked confused.

Kumotome provided the answer as she climbed down from her perch on the Emperor's face. "It is possible for some demons to pervert or corrupt holy relics into demonic items. These items can have their very purpose twisted or even reversed. A sword made for justice to protect the weak can easily become a blade of vengeance. A holy bell made to drive off demons can be made to attract them instead. I myself even attempted it with a divine instrument, a Reflector called Snarling Beast, though I was unable to do so. In this case, it seems someone corrupted this Rosary so that instead of undoing demonic possession, it aided it instead." The spider then looked solemn at that thought. "Though for someone to corrupt a divine instrument would have to be very powerful and very knowledgeable in artifacts such as this."

The Keyblade wielder added another disturbing thought. "It also means that Blight … Goldnail … whatever, was put here by someone. Someone corrupted that Rosary, used it to enhance that cursed sword, and planted that thing in the Emperor for the purpose of creating that mist and killing the people of this city. This is not over," he said gravely.

Issun piped up at that point. "Not much we can do about it now. Let's get back to our original size and wake this oaf up so he can free Kaguya," he said reminding them of the moon maiden.

They all nodded and brought out the Lucky Mallet which seemed almost eager to get to work. As they grew back to their original size within the Emperor's room, the Tear of Chaos reacted again. Looking down at it, the center crystal was flashing through the same symbols as before when they found Kasugami along with the Light and Void gems glowing softly. He moved it around the room, the two gems changing in intensity as he did. He followed the Tear to a cabinet and opened it to find numerous artifacts. The main one that was setting off the Tear was a flask similar to the one they had found Kasugami in. There was also a strange gold ink pot and a fingerless glove with a white swirl like mark on the back. The Chaos Tear reacted to them as well, though not to extent of the flask. Held close to the ink pot, it flashed symbols meaning sun, divine, and restore. The strange glove brought up symbols for thief, swiftness, and accuracy. There were also a few sacred charms and a couple of strange peaches there, but nothing else worth noting. Deciding not to leave anything to chance, he quickly pocketed it all for later as now they had the pleasant task of explaining to the guards how a white wolf, a Poncle, a demon spider, and a young swordsman appeared in the personal bedroom of the Emperor without their notice. What joy.

**Journal Entry 398**

**Current Equipment:**

**True Chaos Coat **

HP: +200 Strength: +35 Defense: +35 Magic: +35 Crit. Rate: +10 Crit. Bonus: +10

Abilities: Magic Bracer, Defender, Damage Control

A special coat formed out of the raw powers of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness. This coat protects the wearer from the three primal elements even in their raw form and allows the wearer to interact with them much more safely then would otherwise be possible.

**Tear of Chaos:**

A strange amulet of unknown origin containing three gems and a center crystal in a unknown metal created to look like a dragon. The three gems correspond to the three primal elements of Light, Darkness, and Nothingness and react accordingly when near unusual amounts of each. The center tear-shaped crystal acts like a computer processor, taking what the gems detect and displaying images that the user can understand … more or less.

**Precursor Computer (Compass): **

An arm mounted computer created by the Precursors dubbed Compass. This device has a wide variety of uses and is able to analyze various objects, areas, and creatures and record data. It is also able to record trans-dimensional travel via Chaos Corridors and construct "maps" based on such travels. This device is also able to adapt and be compatible with almost any other non-organic based technology.

**Ring: Might Crown**

HP: +80 Defense: +30

Abilities: 10% resistance to all elements/status changes. Exp Boost LV1

**Golden Inkpot:**

A divine artifact that affects a user's mana, the Golden Inkpot allows the holder to recover their mana at a much faster rate than normal, by nearly double the normal rate. This allows any user to use magic much more liberally than would normally be possible. However, this does have a drawback that if the user does manage to use up all their mana, they will not be allowed to cast any magic until it refills to a certain point, even if that point is much more than they need.

**Thief's Glove:**

This is a divine artifact that gives the user exceptional dexterity, hand eye coordination, accuracy, and stealth. Said to have been created by a master thief, this artifact allows anyone to be the ultimate pickpocket, even in the middle of battle.

**Primary Weapon(s):** Keyblades

**Current Keyblades:** Two Become One, Rejection of Fate, Twilight Blaze+, Lunar Eclipse+, Sanity's Edge, Eco Surge

**Secondary Weapon(s):** None

AN: Sorry this took so long but other projects and life in general got in the way. It was also hard to find a good place to end this. Hope everyone enjoys the chapter.


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy

The Twilight Will

By Demonabyss

Chapter 27: Day 398: Moons and Masquerades

Kaguya sighed as she waited in her cell, watching the world go by. She had spoken to the mallet bearers shortly before and was now waiting to see what would happen. To the blonde woman's surprise, she got her answer in the form of an unearthly scream coming from the Emperor's bedroom followed shortly by a mass of darkness and hate shooting up through the roof and off into the horizon. The guards having also seen this rushed to the room to see what had befell their lord. They entered the room and let out noises of surprise followed by loud arguing between the guards and a voice that belonged to Roxas if she was hearing correctly. The arguing quieted down and eventually one of the guards came to her cell followed by Roxas with Kumotome on his shoulder and Amaterasu next to him with Issun riding on top. "You're free to go ma'am," the guard said politely, happy to free the kind woman.

She bowed to the guard in thanks. "I am grateful but I must ask why?" she said tentatively.

The guard nodded in understanding. "We discovered this young man and wolf in the Emperor's quarters. At first we were going to arrest them but they then explained that they had snuck in an exorcized the Emperor of a demon controlling his body and creating that poison mist. Since we do not know when the Emperor became possessed or how long, it is likely it was the demon was responsible for the order to capture you. For now we are releasing you into their custody until the Emperor has fully recovered," the soldier explained. The young woman nodded as they all left.

Once outside the girl turned to the group, bowing in thanks. "Thank you for having me released," she said kindly. "I hardly recognized you from before as you were so tiny. You certainly cut a dashing figure at full size," she remarked with a smile.

Issun bounced up and down on Ammy's head at the statement. "Ya think so!? Well, actually I hear stuff like that all the time!" he declared proudly.

"Only in your own mind," Kumotome muttered none too quietly, causing Roxas and Ammy to snicker and Issun to fume.

The girl seemed surprised at the Poncle's declaration. "huh? Oh yes … I mean you too, Issun," she said uncertainly as if it were an afterthought. This caused the spider to chuckle and Issun to fume even more.

Shaking it off the tiny artist addressed the blonde girl. "In any case, the city is still not safe right now. You should head back to your grandpa's house," he suggested.

Roxas nodded in agreement. "Given that you were originally captured for some kind of treasure, it would be smart to leave before someone else tries to take it." He then thought of something that hadn't occurred to him before. "Though why he locked you up and didn't just take it in the first place is odd? In any case, your grandfather must be worried by now," he said simply.

The bamboo girl sighed as she seemed to lose herself in thought. "That dear old man thinks of me as his own granddaughter. I would really like to return, but …" she trailed off, as if unsure about something.

"Even if he's not your biological grandfather, you should go and see him anyway if that is how you feel," the Nobody stated simply though she didn't seem to really hear him.

"I know nothing of my past. I don't even know who I am or where I came from. My first memory is of waking up in a bamboo grove. The bamboo cutter took me home, where I was lovingly cared for. To repay his kindness I helped him with his bamboo ware. The only clue I have is a faint memory that I remember while I was imprisoned. I was in a small, dark room long ago and right now I feel I must get there as soon as I can!" she explained almost desperately.

Roxas sighed and looked at her sympathetically. To not know your own origins and wanting answers was one of the most frustrating things for one to experience. Unfortunately Kaguya had less to go on then he did back in the false Twilight Town. "I understand, I really do, but you don't know where it is you want to go back to," he said sadly.

"I do have bits and pieces of memory that together form a vision. It is of a Royal Crest inscribed in earth amid a grove of bamboo," she said as she looked down in deep thought. Her eyes then lit up as she remembered a piece of her past. "Sasa Sanctuary! I must go there! Everything shall be become clear!" she stated excitedly.

The group was startled by her mood swing. Issun said what they were all thinking. "What's with you? First you were talking about some dark place and now suddenly you want to go to Sasa Sanctuary? Are you feeling okay?" he asked concerned.

The blonde woman calmed down slightly before replying. "I don't know to where I must return. An intense feeling in my heart drives me to find it, to seek the Royal Crest! I must leave for Sasa Sanctuary at once!" she said before turning to leave.

However, before she could do so, Roxas reached out and grabbed her arm, holding her from leaving. "Wait a minute. Look, I understand wanting to know your past, I do, but you can't go rushing off like that. You were captured once and may be again. Let us at least escort you there," he said kindly.

Issun once again piped up, liking the idea. "Yeah sweetie, we'll make sure you get back to your grandpa safely and I know the quickest way to get to Sasa Sanctuary," he stated proudly before directing them to the northeast corner of the Aristocratic Quarter where a small pond surrounded by a few bamboo trees was located. The water in the pond had a strange swirl to it, indicating it was no ordinary pond.

As the group moved to leave the city via the watery warp, none of them noticed someone watching them from on top of one of the nearby buildings. Rao smiled to herself as she watched them leave, her eyes glowing an ominous red as she did so. "Now that they are gone, it is time for me to speak with Queen Himiko," she said to herself before making her way towards the palace.

**-XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII- XIII-**

Roxas shook himself dry after emerging from the hot spring. Amaterasu had used what was called a mermaid coin to turn the pond into a whirlpool portal. From what was explained by Issun, the whirlpools were used by the mermaids in the Dragon Palace to visit the surface and mermaid coins were used as the toll to travel. While it wasn't his first choice, he at least got a bath out of the deal. Looking around, he was surprised to see where they were.

It was a large open area carved right into the side of a mountain with what looked like a high class inn sitting in front of them. Apparently they were behind the inn in the hot spring area. The area was lit by a number of ornate paper lanterns with bamboo shoots growing all around. Next to the central hot spring was a massive bamboo rod attached to an ornate stone pillar. Water flowed into it, causing it to tip downwards spill the water out before rising again, repeating in a calm and steady rhythm. The thing that surprised him the most was the fact that there were sparrows the size of people operating the inn and even relaxing in the hot springs. They stood upright and walked like humans, wearing various kimonos and robes, using their wings as arms with feathery hands. The Nobody watched a couple of them run by with trays of food and other with towels. Hell there was even one doing some kind of dance in front of the hot springs with a pair of torches.

Shaking his head, he followed the white wolf through a stone tunnel to a well kept stone path in a massive bamboo forest. He whistled in appreciation, this bamboo was thick and he was sure anyone would have problems trying to navigate this. Passing by several stone benches and guardian deity statues, they soon came to a large open clearing, passing some tigers as they did so. 'Humanoid sparrows that run an inn and hot spring with full grown tigers as pets. Why doesn't that surprise me,' he thought absently as they made it to the main clearing. In the center of the clearing stood Kaguya and an old, hunched over man with a large bamboo rod on his back. He looked extremely happy to see the girl while she just looked surprised.

The old man jumped for joy at seeing his granddaughter. "They Gods be praised! Is it really you, Kaguya!? I never thought I'd see you again after the Emperor suddenly summoned you to Sei-An City," he exclaimed in surprise.

The blonde girl smiled with tears running down her face. "It feels like ages since we last met grandfather. My, look at all those new wrinkles. Have I worried you so? Oh, grandfather …" she said with a sad smile.

Mr. Bamboo shook his head, smiling at the comment. "Oh Kaguya. Let us live together happily ever after! We could sell my bamboo ware, just you and me!" he said excitedly. Immediately the girl's smile faded and she looked away, as if reluctant about something. Her grandfather noticed immediately. "Is something wrong? Do you have to return to the Emperor?" he asked concerned.

She shook her head. "No it's not that. It's just … I can't live with you grandfather," she said sadly.

The old man was surprised. "What?! You're not eloping or running away from something are you?" he asked worriedly.

She shook her head. "The truth is grandfather, I didn't know you where here. It would have been better if we had not met before I departed," she said sadly. Both Mr. Bamboo and the group that had escorted Kaguya to this place were confused. "The Royal Crest carved into the earth here in Sasa Sanctuary calls to me!" she said excitedly. As she did, the center of the crest opened up into a hole, revealing a cavern below.

They were all surprised as Roxas voiced what they were thinking. "What the hell? What are you doing?" he asked surprised at her actions.

The moon maiden seemed excited now as she felt something coming from the cavern. "It's as if I'm being driven by some invisible force. Below this crest … far below the earth … something linked to my mysterious past awaits! I must go! I must see what is in this hole!" she said with certainty before jumping in.

"Kaguya wait!" the old man cried out.

Issun spoke up at that point as well. "No! Don't do it, bamboo girl! It's too dangerous! After her, Ammy!" the Poncle ordered. The white wolf barked and leapt after the moon maiden with Roxas, Kumotome, and Mr. Bamboo watching in surprise.

The trio waited a few minutes before a light erupted from the center of the Royal Crest. Amaterasu quickly came back up with the blonde girl as something erupted from the ground. Debris flew everywhere as a massive metal object erupted from the ground. They all backed away as what looked like a cross between a rocket and a bamboo shoot appeared. It stood a three booster rockets attached to the main shoot. It colored faded black with orange designs and highlights. Pieces of the paint job were rusted or worn off from being underground for so long.

All the Nippon natives stared at the object in confusion and surprise. Roxas was just confused. Issun summed up most of their thoughts. "B-Bamboo girl? Wh-what the heck!? Looks like a bamboo shoot, except its metal and insanely huge!" the tiny artist stated in awe.

The blonde-haired girl stared in stunned revelation. "This … this is what was calling me. It's the link to my mysterious past!" she said excitedly.

Roxas walked up and ran his hand over the ship, giving it a few raps with his hand. "How long has this thing been buried here and why has no one found it before now?" he asked surprised. "For that matter how did it even get here in the first place? I may be a visitor to Nippon but I don't think rockets like this are common.

"I knew…" the old man said softly, catching everyone's attention. They all turned to him in confusion. "I knew that this giant bamboo shoot was buried here in Sasa Sanctuary." Now they were all surprised at his admission. "One day, many years ago, I came here to cut down some bamboo. Suddenly, this giant bamboo shoot appeared right before my eyes! Your cold and nearly lifeless body came tumbling out. Then, this giant bamboo shoot disappeared back into the ground. You were as cold as ice and looked like you might die at any minute. I quickly picked you up and rushed home. My dearly departed wife and I nursed you back to health. We had always wanted a child and you were like a gift from the heavens. You brought joy into our live I couldn't tell you the truth." He tone turned solemn and regretful at this point. "I feared that if you found out, you would seek out this strange bamboo shoot. I feared that it would take you away from us forever!" Tears formed in his eyes as he looked at the maiden who was his family. "Please don't leave! Please don't go Kaguya!" he pleaded.

The moon maiden smiled at the old man, tears forming in her eyes. "Oh grandfather …" she said before she hugged him in joy. "I've always thought of you and grandmother as my real family," she said in between sobs. "That will never change, but I must find out where I come from and who I am. I cannot stay, I must go" she said seriously.

It was at this point Roxas decided to step in, his mind thinking through this whole situation. "That may not be necessary," he said surprising everyone. Both the old man and moon maiden turned to him in both confusion and hope. Roxas turned and addressed Mr. Bamboo directly. "I understand why you didn't tell her, but she did have a right to know. Not knowing who you are and where you came from can be one of the most frustrating things ever, believe me I know," he said as memories of his time in the Organization and the fake Twilight Town surfaced for a moment. "That said, you said this thing was buried here for years and it is only recently that Kaguya here felt the pull from it right?" he asked to which they both nodded. "When exactly did you start to feel this … pull?" he asked cautiously.

Kaguya tilted her head in thought, trying to remember exactly when she started to feel the urge to come to Sasa Sanctuary to find this metal bamboo shoot. "It was … about a few weeks ago, shortly before I was called to the city by the Emperor and just before the poison mist settled in," she answered curiously.

Roxas nodded, as if expecting that answer. Looking up at the metal bamboo shoot/rocket, he noticed an open portion near the top, almost like a cockpit. Jumping up, he climbed to the top and opened up his arm computer. "Compass, can you access this thing's system and see what records you can find?"

[Acknowledged. Accessing ship system and database. Beginning memory retrieval,] it responded as some of the orange lines on the craft started to light up and pulse gently.

"Hey Roxas, what are you doing?" Issun asked as he watched the Nobody work.

"I'm getting into this thing's system to try and find out why it was sent here with Kaguya in the first place," he replied as he watched various symbols and information flash across the screen. After a few minutes the Precursor computer beeped in completion.

[Memory retrieval completed. 34% of memory salvaged. Remaining memory corrupted. Displaying data now,] it replied as it showed Roxas the information. After jumping down and reading it for a few moments his eyes widened in shock.

"Did you find something Roxas?" Kumotome asked from his shoulder curious as to what was hidden in the strange bamboo.

The boy looked up and just stared at Kaguya for a moment before speaking. "According to this Kaguya, you were sent here due to a civil war of some kind going on in your homeland." Everyone was now listening intently as he continued. "Apparently your people used demons as slaves, but your parents were against this when the war broke out between the demons and your people, they had to send you away to keep you safe. That's why demons leave you alone, they recognize your family and you specifically as their allies," he explained much to their shock.

Kaguya's knees gave out and she slumped to the floor of the bamboo grove, unable to comprehend what she was hearing. A civil war? Her parents sending her away to keep her safe? Demons seeing her as their ally? She was barely able to wrap her head around it all. "Is there anything else," she asked softly as Mr. Bamboo moved to comfort his distraught granddaughter. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know at this point but knew she NEEDED to know.

Roxas looked reluctant but continued. "There is something else, this ship was originally sent here … over 200 years ago. You were in a … magical sleep for decades until something happened to cause this ship to appear to Mr. Bamboo and throw you out. Originally you were supposed to sleep until the war was over then go back, but something happened to this ship. To put it simply, somebody has tampered with this thing, both when you were found and very recently. The fact that it's been buried so long also hasn't helped it either," he explained to the moon girl as he absently scrapped some rust off of it.

Everyone was quiet for a moment at the revelation this metal bamboo brought. "Then … I'm not supposed to leave yet?" she asked tentatively with a slight bit of hope in her voice.

The blonde boy sighed before answering. "Honestly, I don't know. This thing has been so messed up by age and somebody tampering with it that it lost contact with your home some time ago. The war could be over or it could still be going on, I don't know. What I do know is that this thing is a wreck. I would recommend getting this thing looked at and repaired before doing anything," he suggested as he looked over the information Compass displayed.

They were all silent for a moment before Kaguya stood up and handed a strange red tablet to Roxas. It was made out of a metal similar to the huge rocket/bamboo shoot, covered in strange designs almost like circuitry, and seemed to radiate an unknown field. "Thank you Roxas, you prevented me from making a mistake and leaving my grandfather behind. This artifact used to be my only link to my past, but now that this bamboo has been revealed I don't need it anymore. Besides you'll probably find more use for it than me," she said happily.

Scanning the strange tablet, Roxas whistled at the results. "This is some artifact. According to what I'm reading here, this tablet was or is part of this ship," he explained much to everyone's surprise. "Specifically this tablet was meant as a heat shield for the ship. It provides perfect protection from any heat or fire source," he explained.

"That's some treasure, thanks bamboo girl," Issun said from his perch on Ammy's head.

She smiled at them. "Yes, I managed to keep it hidden from both the Emperor and the priestess while I was imprisoned," she said with a smile.

Roxas immediately looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean the priestess? You're saying Rao visited the Emperor?"

She tilted her head, matching his confusion. "Yes, she visited shortly before the Emperor was bedridden and didn't come back since," she explained.

The Nobody narrowed his eyes as his mind worked furiously to try and piece something together. There was something here that was bugging him, something that his subconscious could see but that he couldn't. "Could you please list out the timeline of what happened from when you were summoned to the city to when we met you please," he asked cautiously.

Kaguya crossed her arms and looked down in thought. "Well, I was summoned by the Emperor shortly after entering the city. At the time, the mist was just starting to form so no one was sick yet. I went to the Emperor and was imprisoned. He said he wanted that fire tablet that he had heard I possessed. Strangely I was not searched when I was captured and just kept me in the cell. That was also shortly after I had the urge to come here to this metal bamboo. A few days afterward, the Priestess Rao came with a strange rosary to see the Emperor. When she left, the Emperor soon became bedridden and the mist increased heavily. I stayed in the cell since then up until meeting you. Oddly, the Emperor commanded that I be treated well, but not allowed to leave," she explained, though now seemed confused once she went over everything.

Roxas' eyes widened as he heard the tale. Given what he had learned from the rocket's data, the demon Blight had imprisoned her in order to keep her from the rocket and most likely keep her safe. However, the part about the rosary and priestess sparked something in his mind that he hoped was wrong. Turning to his canine companion he asked her with a hint of trepidation in his voice, "Show her the Exorcism Beads that we acquired from Blight." Amaterasu did so, the divine instrument floating are her neck in a calm pattern. "Is this the rosary you saw?" he asked Kaguya.

The moon girl nodded in confusion. "Yes, that is the rosary that the priestess had, but how did you acquire it?" she asked confused.

The Nobody didn't hear her as his mind went into overdrive. It was thinking through what he had learned recently.

_"Those are the Fox Rods Roxas, a legendary artifact among demons, said to have been created by one of the first kitsune. They hold a terrible power and were thought to have been lost long ago…"_

_"Did you see that sunken ship…it was carrying a divine treasure called the Fox Rods, ordered by the Queen herself."_

_"We must reunite with our Lord…"_

_"It seems what I was looking for isn't on this ship."_

_"Wada, the king of the Dragonians. … fight off the Dark Lord of Oni Island … took the Lord's dark instrument, the Fox Rods, but they in turn drove him insane…"_

_"…both the Dark Lord and the fortress under its command vanished…"_

_"…Oni Island appears and disappears each day…"_

_"Queen Himiko is divining its location…"_

_"…the mist that covered Sei-An City blocks her sight."_

_"Someone corrupted that Rosary, used it to enhance that cursed sword, and planted that thing in the Emperor for the purpose of creating that mist…"_

_"…the Priestess Rao came with a strange rosary to see the Emperor."_

_"I can take these to the Queen…"_

_"It is possible for some demons to pervert or corrupt holy relics into demonic items."_

_"Though for someone to corrupt a divine instrument would have to be very powerful and very knowledgeable in artifacts such as this."_

_"…hiding in a lesser form somewhere trying to rebuild his strength."_

_"I have great experience in dealing with artifacts of power…"_

His eyes widened as what his subconscious was trying to tell him finally broke though. "Son of a bitch!" he exclaimed before turning around and starting running much to the surprise of all there with Kumotome holding on for dear life. Amaterasu took off after him with Issun hanging on as well; both shocked at his sudden exclamation and departure. Kaguya and her grandfather were stunned and watched them leave in fearful curiosity.

"Whoa there Roxas, what wrong? Where's the fire!?" Issun exclaimed in confusion.

The Nobody didn't even look back as they approached the whirlpool in the hot springs. "No time! We need to get back to Sei-An now!" he said as he threw in a mermaid coin, causing the magic of the whirlpool to activate, opening a portal back to the city. Without a second thought he jumped in, hoping to be transported right next to the palace.

Unfortunately instead of being transported, the four of them were violently thrown out of the whirlpool and back into Sasa Sanctuary. "What happened?" Issun asked confused.

The former spider demon was the first to answer. "It seems the whirlpools to Sei-An City and the surrounding areas have all been blocked off somehow."

"Damn it! I was afraid of this; the Dark Lord cut us off from the city. It may be too late by the time we get back!" he cried out, exasperated. As he spoke, he failed to notice the flask he had lifted from the Emperor's was starting to shake violently before bursting apart, surprising the group.

In a flash of white, the group was in the sacred realm once more, facing the drunken sheep god of mist, Kasugami. "Ah… Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all. Our separation had weakened me. My power had scattered like mist. Your heart, pure enough to pierce the darkness, reawakened me in this time of need. The seal of mist will protect you. My power has reached its peak. I hereby bestow upon you the power of Mist Warp! Use the mist to travel to and from points of light and protect this land," the sheep intoned before the world flashed white again, leaving the group in Sasa Sanctuary.

"What was that? What did he mean points of light?" Issun asked confused.

Surprisingly it was Kumotome who answered. "I have heard of this technique. It is said to allow one to travel through the mists, cutting travel down immensely. What would take hours or days would only take a few moments. The key is using sacred markers to act as guides in the mist otherwise one may be lost in them," the spider explained.

"How do you know about a Celestial Brush technique?" Issun asked accusingly.

The former spider queen just seemed to grin at him. "Spiders are all around bug and most never give them a second thought. We hear and see many different things," she said cryptically.

Roxas frowned. "That's all well and good, but what would constitute a sacred marker that we can use to get to Sei-An City quickly?" he asked anxiously.

Kumotome was silent for a moment before answering. "The Origin Mirrors scattered throughout the land would suffice. They are used often by travelers for prayer to various gods and deities. Even demons use them from time to time. However only the larger, more ancient mirrors would have enough spiritual energy to act as guides. If memory serves, there is one right outside the inn that we can warp from," she explained.

Saying nothing, he ran through the inn followed by the sun goddess and right to the large Origin Mirror. Getting to the mirror, Amaterasu painted a large X in mid-air over the mirror, causing the group to be enveloped by mist. Once their vision was completely enshrouded, they saw multiple points of light all around them. Around each point was an area that was lit up, indicating where it was. Each point was no more than a couple meters away. Looking among the points, they saw one near the Ankoku Temple which he knew was not far from Sei-An City. They ran to the point, finding it to be another Origin Mirror and as soon as they got there the mist dissipated, leaving them outside the temple.

As soon as the mist cleared, something else happened. Just outside of the temple gate was Priestess Rao, except she was floating off the ground and faded, insubstantial and see-through. She was waving urgently to them, wanting them to come into the temple grounds. Issun was the first to say anything. "Whoa, it's the busty babe," he said as he started to drool, not noticing her incorporeal state. However, before he could look closer she floated up the steps to the temple and disappeared. "Huh!? She's gone? I don't get what's going on here," he said frustrated.

The Keyblade user looked grimly at the scene before running at the temple. He had noticed something about that image they had just seen. For one, Rao's entire face was showing as her hair wasn't covering anything up and two; the beads around her neck had been blue instead of red. "Unfortunately Issun, I think I do," he said darkly as he ran up to the temple. Amaterasu growled and followed, also catching onto what he was thinking. Once they got to the gate, again the image of Rao appeared, motioning them to follow before disappearing in a flash. They ran up the steps and came to the entrance of the temple. Again the image appeared, this time at the side of the temple motioning them to come to the area behind it. Following the spirit they came to a grassy area next to a cliff side. Again the image of Rao appeared, motioning them to continue, floating backwards into the stone wall.

"Did you see that? That busty babe went right into the wall!" Issun exclaimed. Roxas frowned for a moment before rushing forward, following his instinct. It was proven correct when he ran through the wall and into a cave containing an old well. Once again the image of Rao appeared before them, pointing downwards into the well. Following her directions, the group went down to find a tunnel filled with shallow water and lined with candles, illuminating the place. Next to the entrance of the tunnel however, laid a corpse, a skeleton really, wearing a disturbingly familiar purple robe with a yellow sash and white vestment. "Hey, there's a body here. Wow, looks like it's been laying here forever. There's nothing but some bones and some clothing left," the Poncle stated before taking a closer look at the remains. "Hmm … now where have I seen clothes like that before?" he said curiously.

Roxas shook his head mentally cursing himself while Kumotome muttered quietly, "Idiot bug." Without a word they continued down the tunnel, not noticing the faded image of Rao following them now. At the other end of the tunnel was a ladder. Quickly going up, they found themselves in a strange storage room of some kind. It was filled with all sorts of rare items, weapons, and scrolls. Seeing how neat and well kept it was gave Roxas an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. Going outside only made it worse.

They were standing outside a storage shed connected to the palace in the Aristocratic Quarter. "Huh? Isn't this … Himiko's Palace? Why is there a tunnel from Ankoku Temple to here?" he asked confused.

"This isn't good," Roxas said out loud before running to the main building. As he did he noticed a few guards and handmaidens all either incapacitated or knocked out. "Damn," he muttered as he kneeled next to one of the handmaidens that were still awake and struggling to get up. "What happened? Where's the queen?" he asked urgently.

The young woman coughed a couple times, holding her side in pain. "We were attacked by the Dark Lord. It came out of nowhere; we had no chance to react. The queen is on the top floor. Take the elevator," she said pointing to a pair of black doors.

Casting a quick Curaga spell on the girl, Roxas, Amaterasu, Issun, and Kumotome went into the elevator and immediately went to the top floor where the queen supposedly was. Once they reached the top, they were surprised to see a massive pond of boiling molten rock in front of them. "Lava!? Who the hell puts a moat of lava in a wooden palace on the top floor? For that matter, how do heat this thing," the Nobody exclaimed in surprise. Shaking his head to refocus, he handed Amaterasu the Fire Tablet he had obtained from Kaguya. "Here, use this to swim across. I'll be able to get by without it," he said quickly. The wolf barked in agreement, taking and equipping the tablet. She dived into the magma moat, unaffected by the heat and flames. Roxas jumped up and kicked off the wall, flying off and shooting across to the other side. Once they were both there, they dashed down the hall towards the shrine where Queen Himiko was.

The room they entered was huge, almost as big as the ballroom at Beast's Castle. It had pillars on the sides and numerous candles all around illuminating the room. The walls contained intricate carvings and at the back of the room was a large altar that doubled as a throne with a massive mirror in the center. In front of the altar laid a beautiful woman in purple silk robes wearing a large sacred jewel around her neck holding a fan. She was next to a large crystal sphere that contained sacred leaves and a smaller gem inside with a yellow holy ribbon floating around it. They ran to the woman where Roxas immediately cast a Cure spell as soon as he got close, but it was useless. The woman, who he assumed was Queen Himiko, was bloody, broken, and badly burnt, as if a large beast had torn into her and then fried her. From the looks of the marks, he could tell they were electrical rather than fire. After working with Axel and Larxene, he could tell the difference. "Too late," he muttered as he gently closed the fallen queen's eyes in respect. To the side, he barely noticed Priestess Rao sitting in a darkened corner, shivering violently as if she saw her worst fear.

Issun couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Huh!? What the hell happened?" Seeing the body, he yelled at her as if trying to wake her up though he already knew it was useless. "Hey pretty lady! Queen Himiko!" Nothing. "She's … dead," he said quietly.

At this point, Rao's voice pierced the silence. "It was terrifying … A monster ten times my height appeared. It destroyed the magical barrier that Queen Himiko had erected with the crystal and left her like that," she explained with what sounded like fear in her voice.

The tiny artist finally noticed her while Kumotome, Roxas, and Amaterasu eyed her wearily. "Busty babe, is that you? What monster are you talking about?" he asked confused.

She spoke again as if not hearing him, still shaking violently. "I'm scared now. The evil beings we must defeat to save the people in the city, their leader is such a mighty beast! No human could stand up to it! Our feeble mortal resistance is futile!" she intoned darkly.

Jumping up and down in frustration, Issun couldn't help but voice his confusion. "Damn it, how could this happen? Queen Himiko has some of the strongest security ever and with an artifact like that crystal ball she should have been fine!" He then noticed how his companions were eyeing the priestess. "Hey, why d'ya guys keep staring at the busty babe?" he asked confused. "The Queen's dead, are you the least bit sad?"

Roxas tensed his muscles as he answered his tiny companion. "Because Issun, the monster that … _Rao_ is talking about that came in here and killed the queen …" he said calmly before pausing for a moment. In a flash he summoned Eco Surge in Peacemaker mode, pointed it at the priestess, and let loose a blast of dark Eco right at her. The Priestess jumped out of the way of the blast, causing it to hit the wall and blow a decent sized hole in it. She landed to the side with a startled and confused look on her face. "…It never left," he said simply afterwards. Amaterasu turned, taking a fighting stance and growled at the woman.

"What's wrong with you two!?" Issun said in surprise.

"Amaterasu, Roxas, what are you doing?" Rao asked confused. "Have you both lost your minds? Are you in the grip of the evil curse as well?" she said in confusion. Seeing that they weren't going to calm down she immediately tried to "exorcize" them. Bringing her hands together, and bowing her head, she started to chant some kind of spell. "Kan-ji-zai-bo-satsu. Gyo-jin-han-nya-ha-ra-mi-ta-ji. Sho-ken-go-on-kai-ku. Do-is-sai-ku-yaku…"

Not wanting to see what the results of such a spell would be; Amaterasu lunged at Rao, intending to take revenge for Queen Himiko's death. The priestess immediately stopped her chant and looked up, her one visible eye changed. The sclera had turned pitch black with the iris now a ruby red. The pupil itself was now thinner, elongated, and slit-like, similar to cat's eye. She leapt over the lunge only to barely avoid being shredded by Rejection of Fate and Two Become One. Roxas now stood next to the growling sun goddess as the so-called priestess stood over the still form of the fallen queen.

Issun was now thoroughly confused. "What's going on!? Why are you guys attacking Rao and what is with those eyes?" he exclaimed.

Kumotome sneered from her perch on Roxas' shoulder. "Idiot bug! This is not the Priestess Rao, it never was! The true priestess has been dead for months, her corpse rotting in that tunnel we found!" the spider said angrily.

Roxas readied his Keyblades, Rejection of Fate in his left hand and Two Become One in his right, as he kept both eyes on "Rao", speaking calmly as he did. "She's right Issun. She's been playing us for fools right from the start. She killed the real Rao and took her place, gaining easy access to the city. That tunnel was dug so that she could do things in her true form without people being suspicious. When she battled the Dragonian King who was the Water Dragon, she lost her dark instrument the Fox Rods and thus had to stay as the priestess. Then she took us to that haunted ship, knowing the Fox Rods weren't there in order to lure the Water Dragon out. She also planted Goldnail and later the corrupted Exorcism Beads in the Emperor to create that mist to block the Queen's sight and poison the people in the city. She's part of the tribe of demons that were exiled from this area long ago. She's a kitsune!" he explained.

The exposed demon started to chuckle before laughing loudly, her uncovered black and ruby eye sparking wildly. "Well, carrying on with this masquerade any longer would spoil the fun. So tell me Roxas, what gave me away?" she said as her voice started to take on a more twisted tone. It absently reminded him of Alice when she was in a rage.

He started to circle her slowly, Keyblades at the ready as he spoke. "Lots of little things that didn't add up. For one, how could the Fox Rods be on that ship that Water Dragon sunk if they were already in his stomach making him go nuts in the first place? Then there was the Emperor. As an expert on mystical artifacts, you should've been easily able to recognize the possession by Goldnail and you would've had the skill to implant it and the corrupted rosary into the Emperor. You're also one of the few with the authority to order the Emperor not see anyone else for treatment, protecting your mist creator in the process. And just now, why would the Dark Lord come in and kill Queen Himiko but leave you alive without a scratch and leave this crystal ball behind? There's also one last thing that I didn't realize till just now. The Heartless. We haven't run into ANY Heartless since the ship. Since we were working with you, they probably thought we were you allies and never came after us," he said calmly as he made ready to attack.

The disguised kitsune chuckled again, a twisted smirk as she did so. "Very clever Roxas. I should have expected this after what happened on the treasure ship and after you escaped the Water Dragon with the Fox Rods. You also started the search for Oni Island to bring down my fortress and cleared the city of my mist to do so." She then smiled, showing off her now elongated canines as she looked at the dead queen lying at her feet. "But now that the Water Dragon has gone, my fortress is impregnable! And Himiko is but a lifeless corpse! You'll never know where Oni Island is now!" She then turned to the Nobody and sun goddess. "Luck must be on my side. Taking the form of this priestess Rao has made it so simple. Himiko let me get close to her made breaking her magical barrier easy," she said as the sharp-toothed grin on her face stretched to inhuman proportions, reminding Roxas of Cheshire, though less friendly if that was possible.

"This … this can't be real! Where's the busty babe we know and love!?" Issun said frantic.

Kumotome snarled at his disbelief. "Wake up you idiot insect! She has been using us from the start!"

The false priestess then brought forth a familiar bundle of bamboo. "The best part is you literally handed me my victory. All because the Fox Rods are back in my possession!" She then took a fighting stance, her hand opened as if to tear at something as he nails sharpened into claws. "Amaterasu, Roxas, despite your cleverness you are still fools! To think that you parted with this mighty source of magic so easily. Know that it was you who revived the power of the Dark Lord," she declared before absorbing the Fox Rods and covering herself in a strange cloud of magic. In an instant she had transformed.

She was still the same height, same voluptuous shape, and same basic clothes, but altered somewhat as she was now much more animalistic. The kimono she was wearing was now had a shorter skirt and no sleeves, allowing for much more freedom of movement, though the vestment extended further from her shoulders, looking more like armor than cloth. Her body was covered in a fine off white fur with extensions on her ankles and forearms similar to Amaterasu's. However, while the sun goddess's were smooth and flowing, this were pointed and sharp, looking more like blades than anything else. Her face had changed to that of a fox covered in the same white fur with black markings similar to the red facial markings on Amaterasu, making it look almost like a mask. Behind her swayed nine elegant fox tails, each a couple meters long with a blood red tip. Her vulpine face sported a toothy smile at them. Last but not least, she held a huge sword as long as she was tall, with a jagged yellow hilt and a jade colored blade with eight yellow, alternating extensions from the sides plus the tip, totaling nine blades in all on the sword as it sparked with lightning, showing the source of the burns on the queen's corpse. "The Fox Rods shattered the crystal's barrier like glass. Oh, if only you'd been here to see Himiko die!" She then turned to the crystal still floating next to the corpse of Queen Himiko. She made a motion with her hand and the crystal ball floated up and shrunk, fitting into her palm easily. "I think I'll take the crystal ball just in case either of you or one of your pathetic friends tries to locate me," she said just before placing the sacred crystal in her mouth and swallowing it before turning back to the two of them. "And if I deal with you Amaterasu and Roxas now, then no one will stand in the way of my conquering Ryoshima Coast!" she declared arrogantly.

Issun scoffed at her at this point. "I'll give you this much, you're quite the actor. You had me completely fooled," Issun said calmly now that he got over his disbelief. "But now we won't have to worry about Oni Island because we're going to take you down right here! You're outnumbered four to one fox wench!" he said arrogantly.

The Dark Lord just chuckled at the Poncle. "How quickly you forget bug, that I command more than just demons," she replied before raising her sword to the air. Immediately, in flashes of Darkness, the Heartless appeared, responding to the call of their master on this world. Spearmen along with many floating Heartless in small wizard hats that Roxas recognized as Scarlet Tangos, Crimson Jazzes, and Yellow Operas.

Roxas smirked himself. "And you forget foxy, I can call in reinforcements too," he stated as he mentally summoned his lesser Nobodies. In flashes of jagged Nothingness, Ninjas, Mikos, and surprisingly Samurais all appeared in the room, responding to the summoning of their commander. The two groups stood, on one side a demoness general and her Heartless army and on the other a sun goddess, a Poncle, an arachnid, a greater Nobody general, and his lesser Nobody army, both ready to tear into each other. After a moment of tense silence, an unseen signal was given and the two groups dashed at each other.

The Spearmen engaged the Samurais while the Mikos and Ninjas went after the floating caster Heartless. Meanwhile, Roxas crossed swords with the kitsune with Amaterasu attacking from a distance with her Exorcism Beads. All around Thunder, Fire, Fire Bomb, Barrier, Cure, and Aero spells were flying every which way with electricity arcing from Rao's sword Raiden as it clashed against Roxas' Keyblades. Her demon great sword gave the kitsune a longer reach than the Nobody's weapons, though he was able to attack faster and defend better. Activating Stand Firm, Roxas locked Rejection of Fate with Raiden, leaving his other hand free. Charging up Two Become One he readied his Chaos Blades attack. Seeing what he was doing, Rao sent out a massive pulse of lightning, knocking the Nobody away. Despite the backlash, he launched the Chaos Blades while the kitsune sent out a shockwave of lightning.

From the outside, every window and part of the roof all exploded outward from the backlash. As a result, the battle started to spill outside with the Ninjas chasing after the Heartless to prevent them from spilling into the city. Inside the battle still raged on between Rao, Roxas, and Amaterasu. The kitsune now wielded a dagger in addition to Raiden in order to try and stave off the attacks from the sun goddess's Exorcism Beads. As they fought, Roxas yelled at Rao, trying to get her to stop, more specifically to stop using the Heartless. "Listen to me! You have to send the Heartless away! You can't control them, no one can!" he yelled at her as he parried another strike from Raiden.

The fox woman snarled at him. "Be silent! You only lie to save yourself! I can and have been controlling the Dark Ones and I will use them to conquer Ryoshima Coast!" she yelled out as she threw several copies of the dagger at the Nobody to keep him away so that she could go after Amaterasu.

The wolf countered with her own multi-bladed sword Seven Strike. It was ruby red glaive with six extensions on the sides along with the tip, totaling seven blades in all, hence its name. Along the blade were sacred kanji writing in shining gold ink that glowed softly. Unfortunately, despite being a divine instrument, Amaterasu was still pushed back as Raiden was several levels above Seven Strike in terms of power due to being imbued with an element.

The deadlock lasted for a moment before Roxas was one again in the middle of it. The three of them clashed with the kitsune trying to stave off attacks from both the Nobody and the wolf. She slashed with Raiden, her attacks growing wilder as her anger increased. Roxas countered with Rejection of Fate, using the key teeth to lock the sword in place, giving him an opening. He reared back with Two Become One, charging up Aura Blade as he did so. Rao moved to counter with her dagger since her sword was locked in place only to have Amaterasu's Exorcism Beads wrap around her arm preventing her from bringing it to bear.

The false priestess's eyes widened as the deadly Keyblade came at her. At the last moment however, the weapon flashed away and instead of a sword going through her torso, it was a Chaos charged fist to her gut. Rao's eyes widen in shock and pain at the strike. Before she could think on the fact that he had spared her from an instant death due to her carelessness, he pounded her again and again, hitting in the same spot. After the fifth hit, he got the reaction he wanted when the fox woman coughed up the crystal. Reacting quickly he kicked her away and grabbed the crystal, getting some distance between her and him as Amaterasu joined him.

Issun spoke up at that point, seeing the demoness' weakness. "Ok, we have her now Ammy! Roxas has the crystal so let's finish off that fox-headed wench!" he called out. The white wolf growled in agreement and charged only to be forced by a barrier.

Rao stood shaking in rage, deciding she had had enough. Behind her, nine demonic purple flames appeared with strange kanji written in them in blood red fire. The focused as she was engulfed in a strange blue light. The nine tails she had were engulfed in shadow and extended behind her. Each tail was at least four times as long as she was tall, nearly eight meters with a pointed tip at the end. All of them were pointed up in a row like a menorah and swaying like snakes as her main body was covered in shadow. In a flash it was replaced by a four legged animal form, hidden by darkness and blue demon magic with only its shape and burning red eyes visible. Given the shape of the head and body, it was certainly canine in appearance. It spoke in a growling female voice, obviously mad at them. "Ignorant fools! Did you really think it would be that easy!? I have powers beyond belief!" She then seemed to grin at them though it was hard to see due to her body being covered in shadow. "Here is but a taste of what the Dark Lord can do!" she announced.

The demon stood on its front legs, bringing all nine tails forward and launching a wave of energy balls at them. Reacting quickly, Roxas activated Mirror Wall with Rejection of Fate, sending the attack back at the Dark Lord. Jumping out of the way, the attack crashed into the wall and creating another hole in palace. The shadowed demon sneered at them. "Hmph! Petty deity! Worthless Nobody! Even if you are able to stand against my fury, it will do you no good. Resistance in futile, for you last remaining hope is gone. I shall now return to Oni Island and rally my dark forces! Then we'll go forth and crush all who stand against the Darkness," the Dark Lord declared and she laughed, disappearing in a flash of blue and purple light. With her gone, the Heartless who were still fighting followed suit, disappearing in flashes of Darkness, leaving only Roxas, Kumotome, Amaterasu, Issun, the lesser Nobodies, and the corpse of former Queen Himiko.

They had allowed the Dark Lord to slip away. The display of evil had sent chills down their spines. Overwhelming sadness gripped them all as they gazed at the fallen queen. Himiko had remained steadfast in her quest to find Oni Island. In the end, she lost her life at the hands of the Dark Lord and with her all clues to the location of Oni Island died. It seemed hopeless for the group and giving up their quest seemed like the only option. However, something strange happened as the crystal ball came to life. The sacred ribbon floating around the crystal extended and wove itself into a elaborate braid before falling back into Roxas' hand.

A shred of hope filled his eyes as he unhooked the talisman on the end of Rejection of Fate, changing it into an ordinary, if large key. He then attached it to the key and instantly the sacred crystal, with its connection to the gods and divine power, transformed the weapon into something that would be on par with even the most powerful of divine instruments.

Its handle is carved blue stone with the guard being a darker blue similar to the rim of Amaterasu's Divine Retribution. At where the guard connects to the neck of the "key" is a Yin-Yang symbol, though this one had three parts instead of the traditional two, white, grey and black with a crown of five spikes flaring up from it. The neck of the Keyblade looked like polished bamboo wood with the end having a gold clasp around it. The three teeth of the Keyblade came from the metal part, curving towards the handle and giving it an elegant look. There were two things that stood out most with this Keyblade. One was that the shaft had six kanji etched into it, five on the wood and one on the metal. Going from the guard up, they represented Void, Darkness, Light, Spirit, Life, and Divine which was etched on the clasp. The other thing was that the end of the weapon had a large mass of hair at the end held by the clasp, making the whole Keyblade look like a giant brush. The brush was even wet with a strange black, gray, and white ink.

The new Keyblade, Sun Tale, immediately gave off a purifying aura calming all those in the area. On the Keyblade itself, the kanji for spirit started to glow and an image started to appear before them. Doubting their eyes they listened intently as Himiko spoke to them. Though she was saddened to have met them under such ill-fated conditions, she explained that Oni Island would not be easy to locate. Thus the queen had determined to become ethereal herself and merge with the crystal ball in search of clues. She had allowed herself to be consumed in order to use the Dark Lord's power. She was sure that the Dark Lord now possessed the Fox Rods. All was planned, though Roxas did not like the thought of sacrificing an innocent for victory. Himiko's will infused the crystal with great power. The fortress housing the Dark Lord materialized. She informed them that Oni Island only appears at sunset in a certain location. The crystal revealed the location to be a spot just off the northwest shore of Ryoshima Coast, near the spot known as Watcher's Cape. Oni Island would appear again at Watcher's Cape at the next sunset.

A small glimmer of hope returned to their hearts at the news. As the image of Oni Island faded away, a massive crack split the image of Himiko. She had paid the ultimate price for manipulating the demonic power of the Fox Rods. The crystal itself had been spent and now just a key chain on Roxas' Keyblade. The destiny of Himiko's very soul had been inextricably intertwined with that of the crystal ball. A burst of light heralded the demise of the crystal's original power. Himiko's soul was shattered with the power and drifted serenely toward the heavens above, even as she prayed for Roxas and Amaterasu's safe passage as well as entrusting the crystal to Roxas for his mission.

Gripping his Keyblade tightly, Roxas grabbed Amaterasu and jumped out one of the gaping holes in the palace, summoning his Chaos wings as he did, gliding towards the northwest region of the coast to meet up with Otohime and launch an attack on Oni Island at twilight.

**Journal Entry Day 398**

**Keyblade: Sun Tale**

**Strength: 69 Magic: 85 Defense: 5 Critical %: 15 Bonus: 12**

**Passive Ability: Holy Aura**

**Trigger Ability: Celestial Brush**

**Omega Ability: Divine Beast**

This is a Keyblade is a divine instrument and should be treated as such. Compared to most standard Keyblades, Sun's Tail is actually lighter allowing for quick strikes and easy use of its abilities, especially its trigger ability. For its passive ability, Sun's Tail has Holy Aura. As its name suggests, this surrounds the user in a divine aura that repels demonic and corrupt energies and creatures. While it is not absolute, it is a good first line of defense against demonic adversaries. The trigger ability of this Keyblade is one of the most useful. The Celestial Brush, the same as used by the sun goddess Amaterasu, is now at the command of the user. All her brush techniques, from the Power Slash to Fireburst to Veil of Mist to even her personal Sunrise technique are all available to the user. By concentrating mana into the blade, the world around the user will slow for a moment, divine ink will appear in the air from the end of the weapon, and allow the user to perform a brush technique. The Omega ability of this weapon is also one of the most useful. Divine Beast allows the user to shape shift into an animal form based on the forms used by gods and other divine beings. A good example would be the wolf form used by Amaterasu or the cat form of Kabegami. These forms impart their abilities on the user, allowing for great versatility and adaptability.

Despite the usefulness of this Keyblade, it does have its drawbacks. The first is its light weight. While this does allow for the brush techniques to be used more easily than if they were attempted with a normal weighted Keyblade, it also means this Keyblade had less striking power than others. This makes it not the best suited for close combat or going up against heavily armor opponents. Another drawback is that the brush techniques can eat up a good amount of mana when used. The more ink and or more powerful the technique, the more mana is used and can quickly drain the user from overuse. The Omega ability Divine Beast also has its limits. It can only change the user into animal forms used by divine beings, not turn the user into a god themselves or take on the power of gods, just the form. It should be noted that most users will be partial to a specific form and may have trouble switching to another animal form without practice. Once the abilities of this Keyblade are mastered however, it can make the user a serious threat especially to demonic entities.

AN: Sorry this took so long, but the holidays and life got in the way quite a bit along with getting sick right after said holidays. In any case, the next chapter will be the assault on Oni Island and the showdown with the "Dark Lord" Rao. Again, I ask those who have played and beaten Okami to not give any hints as to what's coming. Also, some of you have asked if Roxas would get a wolf form well I hope the new Keyblade Sun Tale answers that question. Whether he'll use any other "divine" form is up for debate at this point.


End file.
